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University  of  California, 

Received       O-^cAj/.  •  /'^'^^• 

Accession  N^  .  y  <Lt  0  ^~E^  ■    Class  No. 


THE 


CHRISTIAN  SABBATH: 


w 


ITS 


HISTORY,  AUTHORITY,  DUTIES,  BENEFITS, 
AND  CIVIL  RELATIONS. 


31  Scries  0f  Sistoitrsts 


THE  REV.  N.  L.  RICE,  D.  D. 

THE  REY.  WILLIAM  HAGUE,  D.  D. 

THE  REY.  IIARYEY  D.  GANSE. 

THE  REY.  WILLIAM  ADAMS,  D.  D. 

THE  REY.  ALEXANDER  H.  YINTON,  D.  D. 


WITH  A  SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM  BY  THE  SECKETAUY 
OF  THE  NEW  YORK  SABBATH  COMMITTEE. 


NEW'YORK 


ROBERT     CARTER    &    BROTHERS, 

No.   53  0   BROADWAY. 

1802. 


B  V  /lO 


7^  (?  ^-t 

Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S62, 

By  Robert  Carter  &  Brothers, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


EDWxVKD  O.   JKNKINS, 

5^rtnter  anTj  .Stcrtotapcr, 
No.  20  North  William  St. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Sketch  of  the  Sabbath  Reform 5 

The  Origin  axd  History  of  the  Sabbath 31 

The  Authority  axd  Perpetuity  of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  .  ^1 

The  Duties  of  the  Sabbath 113 

The  Benefits  of  the  Sabbath 195 

Civil  Relations  of  the  Sabbath 233 

(3) 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  KEFORM. 


The  literature  of  the  Sabbath  in  this  country  is  singu- 
larly meagre.  No  considerable  treatise  is  known  to 
have  been  issued  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  pres- 
ent contribution  claims  to  be  little  more  than  a  mono- 
gram :  still  leaving  to  be  supplied  the  discussion  of  a  vi- 
tal question  in  its  manifold  relations. 

The  Discourses  in  this  volume,  form  a  part  of  the  se- 
ries delivered  before  croAvded  assemblies  in  the  winter 
of  1862,  on  the  invitation  of  the  I^ew  York  Sabbath 
Committee,  by  the  Rev.  Drs.  Rice,  Hague,  Ganse, 
Adams,  Foster,  Vinton,  and  Schaif,  in  the  Fifth- Avenue 
Presbyterian,  CoUegiate  Reformed  Dutch,  Madison- 
Square  Presbyterian,  Madison-Avenue  Baptist,  St. 
George's  Episcopal,  and  St.  Mark's  Lutheran  churches. 
The  Sermon  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Foster,  on  the  Abuses  of 
the  Sabbath,  was  unwritten,  and  his  health  did  not  per- 
mit him  to  prepare  it  for  the  j^ress.  That  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Schaff  has  not  yet  been  furnished  for  publication. 

The  Committee,  under  whose  auspices  these  admira- 
ble Sermons  were  delivered,  have  conducted  their  re- 
forms in  a  manner  to  have  arrested  the  attention  of  re- 
flecting men.  The  April  number  of  the  American  The- 
ological Review  contains  an  able  article  on  "  The  Per- 
jjetual   Observance  of  the  Sabbath,^''  by  Professor  Smyth, 

(5) 


6-    SKETCH  nr  the  sabbath  reform. 

of  Bowdoin  College,  ^Fe.,  in  -which  expression  is  given 
to  the  interest  awakened  by  this  enterprise.  After 
glancing  at  the  history  of  the  New  York  Sabbath  Com- 
mittee's labors,  Prof.  S.  adds : 

"Such  results  are  a  suflicient  proof  of  the  wisdom 
and  energy  with  which  the  eiforts  of  the  Committee 
have  been  conducted.  They  shed  light  also  upon  the 
true  method  of  prosecuting  reformatory  measures  under 
a  free  government.  The  success  which  in  so  large  a 
measure  has  attended  the  enterprise  to  which  we  have 
referred,  is  manifestly,  in  great  part,  due  to  the  concep- 
tions its  authors  have  entertained  of  the  Christian  theory 
of  reform.  Frankly  avowing  their  principles,  and  tena- 
ciously adhering  to  them,  they  have  avoided  theoretical 
entanglements,  casuistry  and  logomachy.  Aiming  at 
feasible  ends,  they  have  made  practical  issues.  No 
ground  has  been  taken  from  which  they  have  been 
forced  to  retreat.  Every  advance  has  been  a  victory. 
Relying  upon  the  power  of  truth,  they  have  wasted  no 
time  in  crimination  and  recrimination.  Believing  in  the 
instrumentalities  divinely  instituted,  they  have  used  them 
quietly  and  perseveringly,  without  adding  or  working 
any  noisy  machinery.  The  country  at  large  has  known 
little  of  their  labors.  Even  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
few  appreciated  the  importance  and  power  of  the  move- 
ment until  the  end  was  in  many  particulars  gained.  It 
is  refreshing  to  witness  this  ^^I'actical  faith  in  truth,  and 
in  the  efficiency  of  calm,  quiet,  manly,  Christian  action." 

A  brief  sketch  of  the  methods  and  results  of  the  first 
five  years  of  this  Sabbath  movement  may  not  be  with- 
out interest  to  the  readers  of  this  volume. 

Thoughtful  men  wxre  alarmed  at  the  rapid  drift  to- 
ward popular  neglect  or  profanation  of  the  sacred  day. 
The  city  had  assumed  the  proj^ortions  of  a  great  metrop- 
olis, attracting  vast  numbers  of  European  immigrants, 
and  outstripping  the  projDortionate  means  of  moral  and 
religious  culture.     Demoralizing  influences  had  fearfully 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.      7 

multiplied,  Avith  no  adequate  counteraction  or  restraint. 
Public  sentiment  had  been  corrupted  or  perverted  by  a 
vicious  press  and  party  intrigue.  The  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment had  largely  passed  into  the  control  of  the  classes 
contributing  least  to  its  support,  and  most  interested  iu 
staying  the  administration  of  justice.  Law  had  lost  its 
wonted  supremacy,  and  our  self-governmg  institutions 
were  fast  losing  their  prestige  and  power.  Material  inter- 
ests overshadowed  and  supplanted  the  moral  and  spirit- 
ual. The  Sabbath  became  in  many  quarters,  and  among 
large  classes  of  the  city,  the  gala-day  of  the  godless  ;  the 
harvest-day  of  avarice;  the  high-day  of  vice  and  crime. 
It  seemed  a  hopeless  undertaking  to  rescue  it  from  even 
the  grossest  abuses  of  its  civil  rights. 

But  there  were  those  who  had  sufficiently  studied  the 
history  and  relations  of  the  Sabbath  to  cherish  and  act 
on  the  conviction,  that  its  loss  would  involve  not  only 
irreparable  injury  to  all  moral  and  religious  mterests, 
but  the  inevitable  sacrifice  of  our  civil  and  social  insti- 
tutions. They  had,  indeed,  to  face  the  discouragements 
just  alluded  to,  and  the  further  circumstance  that  the 
repeated  efforts  to  avert  this  and  kindred  e^dls,  spas- 
modic and  ill-judged  as  many  of  them  were,  had  failed 
of  their  object,  and  only  aggravated  the  disease  they 
were  meant  to  cure.  This  fact,  however,  rightly  con- 
sidered, was  suited  to  mspire  caution,  energy  and  prayer. 
After  years  of  reflection  and  consultation,  a  meeting  of 
leading  Christian  citizens  was  convened,  April  1,  1857; 
the  subject  was  discussed ;  and  a  "  Committee  to  pro- 
mote the  better  observance  of  the  Sabbath"  was  ap- 
pointed, consisting  of  about  tv/enty  members,  connected 
with  eight  different  Christian  denominations. 


8      SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM. 

The  form  of  the  organization  lias  many  i)ractical  advan- 
tages. It  is  simple,  com})act,  and  nnostentatious.  With- 
out the  prestige  of  numbers,  and  so  without  its  embar- 
rassments, it  has  none  of  the  temptations  of  a  "society" 
to  undertake  extreme  and  impracticable  measures,  re- 
gardless of  that  general  public  sentiment  on  which, 
mider  Providence,  the  power  and  success  of  all  stable 
reforms  must  ultimately  rest.  So  long  as  a  "committee" 
conduct  their  enterprises  in  a  spirit  and  on  principles 
suited  to  enlist  the  confidence  of  all  right-minded  citi- 
zens, and  with  the  manifest  aim  to  promote  the  public 
welfare,  the  very  paucity  of  numbers  becomes  an  ele- 
ment of  strength ;  for  every  good  man  may  see  that 
while  a  cause  he  approves  is  fitly  championed,  yet  he, 
and  all  like  him,  must  j^ersonally  enter  the  ranks  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  conflict  demand  his  service.  The  Press, 
too,  comes  to  lend  a  willing  support  to  a  just  and  im- 
portant interest,  when  it  has  no  "  organ "  to  advocate 
questionable  or  exclusive  theories,  and  no  aims  beyond 
the  well-being  of  the  great  community  for  whose  benefit 
Ijoth  profess  to  labour. 

The  Zay-feature  of  the  Committee  was  adopted  and  has 
been  perpetuated  for  obvious  reasons.  The  primary 
objects  of  the  movement  having  respect  to  the  invasions 
of  the  civil  Sabbath,  civilians  seemed  best  suited  to  pro- 
mote them.  The  single  fact  that  active  business-men 
turn  aside  from  their  pressing  avocations  and  devote 
time  and  influence  and  wealth  to  the  suppression  of 
offences  so  glaring  as  to  require  the  intervention  of  the 
magistracy,  of  itself  tends  to  disentangle  the  Sabbath 
question  from  its  chief  embarrassment,  and  to  define 
its  civil  relations  as  distinguished  from  its  religious  obli- 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.      9 

gations  so  clearly  as  to  baffle  the  unscrupulous  enemies 
and  invaders  of  both  its  civil  and  sacred  sanctions.  And 
we  have  yet  to  learn  that  any  of  our  honoured  and  hard- 
working pastors  undervalue  or  would  discourage  the 
active  cooperation  of  prudent  laymen  in  this  and  kindred 
Christian  enterprises  "  too  heavy "  for  their  own  over- 
burdened hands.  Rather  would  they  adopt  the  prayer 
of  Moses :  "  Would  God  all  the  Lord's  people  were 
prophets  ! "  It  is  quite  certain  that  the  manifold  rela- 
tions of  this  enterprise  to  civil  authorities,  legislative, 
judicial  and  executive,  as  well  as  to  the  general  public, 
have  been  freed  from  complication  and  prejudice  by  the 
fact  that  its  interests  were  directed  by  Christian  citi- 
zens chosen  from  secular  callings. 

The  first  step  taken  by  the  Committee  was  a  recon- 
noissance.  The  mere  general  fact  of  neglected  or  abused 
Sabbaths  seemed  an  inadequate  basis  for  reformatory 
action.  A  census  of  Sunday  traffic,  developed  the  fact 
that  nearly  ten  thousand  (9,692)  places  of  business,  in- 
cluding more  than  five  thousand  dram-shops  (5,385,) 
were  open  to  the  public.  Places  of  public  amusement 
were  personally  inspected  by  members  of  the  Committee 
— sometimes  at  the  peril  of  life — at  which  thousands  of 
men,  women  and  children  were  gathered  on  the  Lord's 
day  for  purposes  of  diversion,  dissipation  and  sin.  Let 
it  suffice,  without  repeating  the  revelations  in  "  The  Sab- 
bath as  it  was  and  as  it  is  "  (No.  I.)  and  in  other  docu- 
ments of  the  Committee,  that  the  more  thorough  and  ex- 
tended the  inquiry,  the  deeper  and  more  painful  became 
the  conviction  of  the  prevalent  and  formidable  character 
of  the  evils  to  be  encountered.  They  had  existed  so 
long  almost  without  rebuke ;  they  were  so  intrenched  in 
1* 


10     SKETCH  or  THE  SABBATH  REFORM. 

tlie  avarice  of  some  classes  and  in  the  love  of  sensual 
pleasure  in  others ;  they  were  so  strengthened  by  Old 
World  training  and  prejudices,  and  were  pandered  to 
so  industriously  by  the  German  and  English  Sunday 
Press ;  and  ignorance  or  indifference  as  to  their  nature 
and  extent  were  so  profound  on  the  part  of  the  Sab- 
bath-keeping community,  that  exposure  and  reformation 
seemed  to  border  on  the  chimerical  if  not  the  impossible. 

It  may  be  added,  as  illustrating  the  position  of  things 
five  years  ago,  that  laws  protecting  the  Sabbath  had 
been,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  at  least,  practically  ob- 
solete ;  that  the  police  department  was  in  a  chaotic  state 
— in  the  change  from  the  Municipal  to  the  Metropolitan 
regime ;  that  the  judicial  and  municipal  officers  were 
largely  the  candidates  of  the  Sunday  liquor  interest ;  and 
that  the  commercial  crisis  of  '57  came  upon  the  city 
like  a  tempest  the  very  month  of  the  completed  organi- 
zation for  this  movement.  And  it  will  thus  be  seen 
that  few  enterprises  could  encounter  more  disheartening 
circumstances,  or  more  demand  faith,  prudence  and  zeal 
on  the  jjart  of  their  managers. 

The  grand  aim  of  the  Reform  being  to  correct  and 
arouse  public  sentiment  as  to  the  claims  and  perils  of 
the  Sabbath,  the  three  principal  agencies  for  this  pur- 
pose— the  Pulpit,  the  Press  and  Personal  influence — 
have  been  enlisted  in  such  measure  as  seemed  best  cal- 
culated to  secure  the  desired  result. 

The  incipient  plans  of  the  Committee  Avere  laid  before 
a  meeting  of  more  than  one  hundred  of  the  Clergy  of 
the  city,  and  received  their  unanimous  sanction  in  a 
series  of  Resolutions  that  will  live  in  the  literature  of 
the  Sabbath   while  Sabbaths  last.     Not   far  from  one 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     11 

luindred  sermons  on  the  subject  were  simultaneously 
preached,  soon  after,  on  the  invitation  of  the  Committee. 
The  recent  series  of  sermons  by  Pastors  of  seven  denomi- 
nations, before  thronged  assemblies,  has  tended  to  deepen 
the  conviction  of  the  authority  and  value  of  the  Sabbath 
and  of  the  importance  of  measures  for  its  sanctification. 
Throughout  the  reform,  the  counsel  and  cooperation 
of  the  ministry  have  been  cordially  given  and  highly 
prized. 

But,  valuable  as  has  been  the  aid  of  the  Pulpit,  the 
cooperation  of  the  Press  has  been  invaluable  in  eifecting 
the  revolution  in  general  public  sentiment  which  laid  the 
foundation  for  successful  practical  reforms.  There  was 
a  manifest  propriety  in-  the  discussion  of  questions  of 
public  order  and  morality  as  related  to  the  invasion  of 
the  national  day  of  rest  and  worship  by  journals  whose 
columns  are  pledged  to  truth  and  virtue.  Without  fee 
or  reward,  the  leading  daily  newspapers  of  the  city  have 
advocated  and  defended  all  the  prominent  measures 
inaugurated  by  the  Committee  with  an  ability  and  good 
temper  that  carried  conviction  to  the  public  mind,  and 
with  a  unity  that  paralyzed  opposition.  Every  at- 
tempt of  the  enemies  of  the  Sabbath  to  complicate  the 
question  with  party  politics — and  many  have  been  made 
— has  been  rebuked  by  the  honest  press  of  all  parties. 
Besides  the  intrinsic  value  of  this  cooperation,  it  more 
than  neutralised  the  persistent  and  shameless  opposition 
of  the  Sunday  Press  and  its  allies.  More  than  once  it 
silenced  the  atheism  and  licentiousness  of  the  German 
Press.  The  Weekly  Religious  Press,  it  scarcely  need  be 
said,  has  lent  an  ohnost  unanimous  and  most  cordial  sup- 
port to  this  movement.     In  reviewing  the  whole  course 


12  SKKTCII    OF    THE    SABBATH    REFORM. 

of  tlie  Sabbath  IJefonii,  it  is  obvious  that  its  manifold 
successes  and  its  i)rosent  vantage-ground  are  intimately 
related  to  tlie  fact  tliat  nearly  one  hundred  millions  of 
cojties  of  New  York  newspapers  have  borne  to  their 
readers  articles  friendly  to  the  restoration  and  conserva- 
tion of  our  civil  Sabbath. 

The  othcial  communications  of  the  Committee  have 
been  confined  to  their  series  of  '■'•  Documents.^''  Facts 
and  arguments  have  been  embodied  relating  to  the  par- 
ticular measure  in  hand,  addressed  to  the  reason  and 
conscience  of  thoughtful  citizens — studiously  avoiding 
appeals  to  passion  or  prejudice,  and  leaving  to  their  23ro- 
per  realm  those  disputed  questions  of  ethics  and  theology 
about  Avhich  there  may  be  honest  differences  of  opinion. 
A  monopoly  of  vituperation  and  personal  abuse  has  been 
left  to  the  enemies  of  the  Sabbath,  and  a  tone  of  moder- 
ation and  forbearance  has  been  aimed  at  consistent  with 
the  humane  and  sacred  objects  contemplated.  The  grati- 
fying fact  that  none  of  the  twenty  official  papers  of  the 
Committee  have  been  subjected  to  unfriendly  criticism 
attests  the  public  appreciation  of  this  policy,  and  is  grate- 
ful to  those  who  have  deliberately  chosen  it  irrespective 
of  the  precedents  of  modern  reforms. 

The  distribution  of  the  Committee's  documents  has 
varied  from  2,000  to  10,000  or  20,000  copies  severally,  as 
the  issues  have  required.  They  have  been  placed  gratuit- 
ously in  the  hands  of  influential  citizens,  public  officers, 
editors,  clergymen,  etc.  Three  important  documents  in 
the  German  language  have  been  circulated  by  thousands 
through  the  missionary  employed  by  the  Committee 
among  the  Germans,  and  among  German  pastors  and 
editors ;   and  several  hundred  copies  have  been  sent  to 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     13 

leading  men  in  Gern-^Jiny.  "  Railroads  and  the  Sabbath  " 
(No.  2.)  was  directed  to  thousands  of  directors  and  em- 
ployes of  Railway  companies.  "  The  Broderic  Sunday 
pageant"  (ISTo.  10.)  was  sent  to  4,000  Firemen.  "The 
Sabbath  and  the  Pulpit"  (Xo.  20.)  was  mailed  to  nearly 
5,000  clergymen.  "  The  Plea  for  the  Sabbath  in  War  " 
(No.  19.)  was  addressed  to  all  the  ofhcers  of  GoA^ernment, 
and  to  as  many  military  officers  as  could  be  reached  Avith 
certainty ;  and  packages  were  sent  for  the  supply  of  all  the 
regiments  in  the  army  of  the  Potomac.  After  the  noble 
Sabbath  Order  of  Gen.  McClellan  Avas  issued,  the  Com- 
mittee requested  the  American  Tract  Society  to  publish 
it  in  connection  AA'ith  Washington's  Order  respecting  the 
Sabbath  and  Profane  SAA^earing ;  and  30,000  copies  in 
English  and  24,000  in  German  haAe  been  distributed  in 
the  army,  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  tAA^o  associations, 
besides  some  50,000  copies  through  the  separate  chan- 
nels of  the  Tract  Society. 

The  object  of  all  these  movements  has  been  the  crea- 
tion of  an  intelligent,  healthful  sentiment  friendly  to  a 
due  obserA'ance  of  the  Sabbath.  This  done,  it  was 
belieA'ed,  and  has  been  demonstrated,  that  specific  re- 
forms AA'ould  work  themseh^es  out  AAdth  little  direct  ef- 
fort. Whoever  may  attempt  the  reverse,  and  seek  to 
carry  out  reformatory  schemes  in  the  face  of  an  indifferent 
or  hostile  public  sentiment,  may  expect  disaster  and  defeat. 

It  remains  to  notice  the  third  element  of  influence — 
personal  exertion.  In  its  A^ery  nature  secluded  from  pub- 
lic observation,  little  can  properly  be  said  of  its  methods 
or  results.  There  is  reason  to  belicA^e  that  it  has  not  been 
the  least  effective  of  the  agencies  employed.  In  need- 
ful investigations  and  explorations  ;    in  personal  confer- 


14     SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM. 

ences  witli  tlie  conductors  of  the  Press,  public  authori- 
ties, and  legislative  committees ;  in  procuring  signatures 
to  memorials  ;  in  securing  the  passage  of  wholesome 
laws,  or  defending  them  when  assailed ;  in  providing  ade- 
quate funds  without  public  appeals  of  any  sort  therefor, 
and  in  the  careful  direction  of  every  branch  of  an  ex- 
panding enterprise,  the  several  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee have  cheerfully  devoted  no  inconsiderable  amount 
of  time  and  effort  to  an  object  worthy  of  the  sacrifice: 
with  abundant  proofs,  that,  under  the  blessing  of  the 
Most  High,  they  have  not  labored  in  vain  nor  spent  their 
strencfth  for  nauo:ht. 

When  the  Committee  began  their  labours,  they  anti- 
cipated years  of  j^reliminary  effort  before  it  would  be  ex- 
pedient to  attempt  specific  reforms.  The  promptness  of 
the  recoil  from  the  abuses  and  dangers  brought  to  light 
in  the  early  papers  of  the  Committee,  induced  a  speedier 
attempt  than  had  been  purposed  to  restrain  some  of 
the  more  offensive  forms  of  Sabbath  profanation.  Begin- 
ning with  those  which  admitted  of  no  apology  or  defence 
at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  the  several  issues  made 
by  the  Committee  may  be  classified  as  follows : 

1.  Offences  against  the  Public  Peace  and  Order. 

2.  Invasions  of  Public  Morals. 

3.  Protection  of  the  Sabbath  in  War. 

4.  Promotion  of  the  general  Sabbath  Reform. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  leading  fiicts  in  the  history  of 
these  several  movements  will  illustrate  the  policy  of  the 
Committee  and  the  results  of  their  labours. 

1,   Offences  against  the  public    Peace  and  Order. 

Of  this  class  the  Sunday  news-crying  nuisance  was  the 
most   obtrusive   and  least  defensible.     It  had,  indeed, 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     15 

gained  a  foot-hold,  by  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  unmanly 
toleration,  strong  enough  to  secure  for  it  the  immunity 
of  extra-judicial  sanction  :  for  the  then  Recorder  of  the 
city  went  out  of  his  way  to  protect  the  "  poor  friend- 
less boys  "  who  were  hawking  "  a  public  necessity,"  and 
to  assure  the  Grand  Jury  that  he  "  didn't  think  much  of 
Sunday  Laws — which  were  well  enough  as  abstract  mor- 
ality, but  altogether  too  slow  for  the  age !  "  The  Sun- 
day papers  defended  the  nuisance  most  pertinaciously — 
some  of  them  having  Daily  issues — with  the  evident  pur- 
pose of  driving  from  the  field  of  discussion  and  reform 
any  body  of  men  bold  enough  to  interfere  with  their  pre- 
scriptive monopoly  of  traffic  and  noise  on  the  Lord's  Day. 
So  violent  was  this  onslaught  that  one  of  the  Editors  of 

the  Sunday felt  constrained  to  protest  against  it 

as  having  "its  origin  in  the  unquiet  minds  of  two  or 
three  degraded  and  depraved  individuals,  who  have  most 
unworthily  worn  the  vestments  of  the  priesthood,  and 
who  now  seek  popular  preferment  by  pandering  to  the 
passions  and  the  lusts  of  the  very  worst  classes  of  socie- 
ty ; "  and  he  proceeds  to  declare :  "  I  am  totally  mis- 
represented by  the  Press  of  which  I  am  Editor,  and 
which  through  some,  to  me,  unexplained  means,  has  been 
made  the  organ  of  folly  ^  falsehood^  and  ribaldry  ^ 

The  only  public  measure  resorted  to,  after  the  scorn- 
ful treatment  of  a  respectful  remonstrance  addressed  to 
the  several  Proprietors  of  the  Sunday  newspapers,  Avas 
the  preparation  and  presentation  of  a  "  Memorial  to  the 
Mayor  and  Police  Commissioners,  against  the  crying  of 
newspapers  on  Sunday,"  on  the  grounds  that  it  was 
a  school  of  vice  to  the  newsboys ;  that  their  evil  ex- 
ample was  disastrous  to  the  children  of  the  city ;  that 


10  SKETCH    OF    THE    SABBATH    REFOR\r. 

it  was  ail  uinvarrantable  monoi^oly  of  traffic;  that  it  in- 
A'adetl  the  chiimsof  courtesy  and  good  neighbourhood,  and 
that  tlms  it  was  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  good  citizens. 
This  memorial  received  the  signatures  of  a  hundred  or 
more  of  our  most  prominent  citizens.  The  Commission- 
ers immediately  issued  an  order  for  the  suppression  of 
the  evil.  The  Sunday  papers  counselled  resistance  and 
tlireatened  vengeance.  But  after  a  few  months  of  per- 
severing yet  forbearing  effort,  the  nuisance  was  wholly 
abated,  and  is  now  remembered  only  with  a  feeling  of 
surprise  that  a  civilized  and  a  Christian  community  should 
have  so  long  endured  so  gross  an  outrage. 

The  Broderic  Sunday  Pageant  furnished  another  occa- 
sion for  testing  the  strength  of  the  public  sentiment  on 
this  question.  The  programme  for  this  sham-funeral 
proposed  to  marshal  the  whole  Fire  Department,  some 
4,000  strong,  with  banners,  bands  of  music,  and  all  the 
paraphernalia  of  a  popular  pageant,  on  the  Sabbath.  It 
was  postponed  from  week  to  week  on  account  of  storms, 
but  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  the  Press, 
was  always  set  down  for  Sunday.  This  precedent  seem- 
ed needless  and  impertinent.  A  Protest  against  this 
abuse  of  the  Sabbath,  with  550  signatures,  was  present- 
ed to  the  officers  of  the  Department  and  sent  to  the  Fore- 
men of  160  Fire  Companies ;  and  when  it  was  determin- 
ed to  disregard  it,  the  Protest  was  inserted  in  all  our 
Public  Journals.  The  issue  was  fairly  joined.  The  result 
proved  that  Sunday  Pageants  are  at  a  discount  in  our  city. 
The  entire  procession  numbered  541 — not  half  of  whom 
were  firemen ;  and  their  long  march  through  our  streets 
was  but  a  lugubrious  advertisement  of  the  failure  of  their 
boasted  display.  There  has  been  no  repetition  of  the  wrong. 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     17 

The  attempt  to  pervert  the  Central  Park  into  a  Sun- 
day holiday  arena  comj^elled  the  Committee's  attention. 
The  entering  wedge  was  small — only  jDleasure-boats 
on  the  Lake,  licensed  carriages  for  Sunday  drives,  re- 
freshment-houses for  Sunday  visitors,  and  like  provisions 
for  a  European  rather  than  an  American  use  of  those 
magnificent  grounds.  The  danger  of  the  formal  sanc- 
tion of  this  insidious  beginning  was  more  imminent 
than  the  public  were  aware.  The  Committee  ad- 
dressed a  respectful  Letter  to  the  Commissioners, 
claiming  that  the  entire  Sabbath  arrangements  of  the 
Park  should  be  such  as  neither  to  offend  nor  corrupt  the 
public  conscience.  They  urged  the  necessity  of  adopting 
such  a  principle,  as  a  bar  to  innumerable  perversions ; 
as  alone  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  our  laws  and  in- 
stitutions ;  as  simply  just  and  equal  to  all  citizens  and  tax- 
payers ;  as  preventing  the  popular  demoralization  uniform- 
ly attending  Sunday  license,  and  as  due  to  the  rights 
and  feelings  of  the  Christian  community.  This  Letter 
was  given  to  the  newspaper  Press,  and  was  generally 
accepted  as  a  just  and  temperate  exposition  of  a  per- 
plexing question.  It  is  believed  that  it  expressed  the 
views  substantially  of  a  majority  of  the  worthy  Com- 
missioners of  the  Park,  and  that  there  will  be  no  devia- 
tion from  the  principles  suggested  in  the  regulations  for 
the  enjoyment  of  that  costly  and  invaluable  place  of 
public  recreation. 

2.   Invasions  of  Public  Morals, 

Far  more  formidable  issues  presented  themselves  as 
the  reform  advanced.  Systems  of  evil  overspread  the 
city  vast  enough  in  their  proportions  to  discourage  the 
hope  of  their  overthrow.     Some  of  them  remain  unre- 


18     SKETCH  OF  THE  SARBATH  REFORM. 

bilked:  others  have  been  subjected  to  tlie  restraints  of 
law  and  jmblic  opinion.  The  most  prominent  of  the 
latter  has  been  the  Sunday  Liquor  Traffic.  AvaiUng 
itself  of  the  full  j^ockets  and  idle  time  of  the  labouring 
classes,  Sunday  was  the  harvest-day  of  the  Dram-shops — 
and  of  the  Prisons. 

After  months  of  consultation  and  investigation,  the 
Committee  spread  the  results  of  their  inquiries  before  the 
pubhc  in  a  temperate  paper,  (No.  5,)  showing  the  extent 
and  accessories  of  the  Sunday  Traffic  in  liquor,  and  its  il- 
legality; urging  its  suppression  on  the  ground  that  it  en- 
genders pauperism,  crime,  lawlessness  and  irrehgion ; 
and  suggesting  adequate  remedies.  The  subject  was 
earnestly  discussed  by  the  secular,  religious  and  Sunday 
Press  for  several  months.  Public  sentiment  rapidly  ripen- 
ed into  determined  hostility  against  a  selfish  and  demor- 
alizing business,  and  obviously  demanded  the  intervention 
of  the  Magistracy.  At  length  the  Committee  embodied 
the  views  of  good  citizens  in  a  Memorial  to  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  the  Metropolitan  Police,  askhig  for 
protection  and  relief,  which  speedily  had  some  six  hun- 
dred signatures  of  a  character  to  indicate  the  readiness 
of  the  entire  body  of  our  respectable  population  to  ap- 
pend their  names,  if  requested.  A  counter-memorial, 
German  and  English,  received  some  1,200  signatures, 
and  w^as  jn-esented  by  a  deputation  of  anti-Sunday 
"  clergymen  ; "  but,  five-sixths  of  the  names  could  not 
be  found  in  the  Directory,  or  were  set  down  as  Liquor- 
dealers,  segar-sellers  and  other  parties  in  interest !  The 
Commissioners  unanimously  passed  a  series  of  pertinent 
resolutions,  the  fifth  of  which  took  the  ground  "  That 
present  abuses  in  disregarding  the  Sunday  laws,  particu- 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     19 

larly  in  public  exhibitions  on  Sundays,  and  trafficking  in 
liquors  and  other  like  things,  should,  so  far  as  the  law  al- 
lows, be  prevented  by  the  whole  power  of  the  police 
force  and  the  magistracy."  This  action  was  followed 
by  a  General  Order  of  Suj^erintendent  Pilsbury  to  the 
Captains  of  Precincts,  "  instructing  the  members  of  their 
commands  to  see  that  all  places  where  intoxicating  li- 
quors are  publicly  kept  or  sold  on  Sunday  shall  be 
closed  in  future  on  that  day." 

From  that  time  (Aug.  1859)  to  the  present,  the  con- 
test has  continued  between  the  Police  authorities  under 
the  successive  administrations  and  the  Sunday  Liquor 
Dealers,  with  multiform  attempts  at  evasion  or  resistance, 
but  with  increasing  vigour  and  success.  Finding  that 
the  accumulation  of  complaints  to  the  number  of  more 
than  30,000  in  the  office  of  the  District  Attorney  failed 
to  deter  the  violators  of  law,  the  Police  were  instructed 
to  make  arrests  of  offenders.  When  magistrates  inter- 
posed to  discharge  their  friends  from  arrest,  they  w^ere 
properly  restrained  from  unlawful  interference.  And 
when  Sunday  courts  were  held  open  for  the  exjjress 
purpose  of  facilitating  the  discharge  of  Sunday  law- 
breakers, arrests  were  deferred  till  the  evening,  so  as  to 
secure  at  least  a  night  of  reflection  in  the  station-house 
on  the  conduct  of  the  day.  Many  of  the  Sunday  dealers 
are  known  to  prosecute  their  business  still  through 
side  entrances  and  back-doors ;  but  as  a  pubUc  system, 
the  traffic  in  liquors  on  the  Sabbath  is  substantially  over- 
thrown. 

The  results  as  affecting  public  morals  are  worthy  the 
attention  of  political  economists  as  well  as  of  the  friends 
of  the  Sabbath.     Contrasted  with  the  period  preceding 


20     SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM. 

tlie  effort  for  the  Suppression  of  Sunday  Liquor  selling, 
the  following  statistics  tell  the  instructive  story  : 

The  arrests  for  intoxication,  disorder  and  crime,  on 
Sunday,  during  eighteen  months  of  the  period  — 1857- 
58 — preceding  the  agitation  of  the  Sunday  Liquor  Ques- 
tion, exceeded  those  of  Tuesday  (taken  as  the  average 
of  the  week-days)  by  twenty-five  per  cent.,  as  official- 
ly reported. 

But  the  statistics  of  the  Police  Department  show  that 
during  the  twenty-nine  months  ending  January  1,  1862, 
the  Tuesdaifs  arrests  exceeded  those  of  the  Sunday'' s  by 
forty  per  CEisTT.,  or  a  relative  change  of  sixty-five  per 
cent.  The  comparison  of  the  actual  results  with  those 
which  would  have  followed  had  the  Sunday  Liquor 
Traffic  continued  without  restraint,  will  show  a  saving 

OF    13,823    CASES    OF  VICE    AND  CRIME    ON   THE  SuNDAYS 

OF  TWENTY-NINE  MONTHS,  as  the  fruits  of  this  beneficent 
reform. 

In  the  charge  to  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  Court  of  Gen- 
eral Sessions  for  March,  1862,  the  Judge  stated  the 
gratifying  fact — illustrative  of  the  remark  that  "the 
criminal  statistics  of  New  York  compared  favorably 
with  those  of  any  city  in  the  world," — that  there  were 
now  but  fifty  criminal  cases  on  the  calender  for  trial, 
against  two  hundred  and  seventy  five  at  the  corresponding 
term  one  year  ago. 

The  Sunday  Theatres  and  Beer  Gardens^  by  skillfully 
evading  the  then  existing  laws,  profited  for  a  time  by 
the  closing  of  the  Sunday  dram-shops.  Intrenching 
themselves  in  quarters  of  the  city  chiefly  inhabited  by 
German  immigrants ;  advertising  in  German  papers 
under  the  title  of  "  Sacred  Concerts,"  and  having  their 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     21 

performances  in  a  foreign  language,  they  had  become 
a  demorahzing  agency  of  fearful  proportions,  almost 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  American  population.  At 
least  a  score  of  these  places  were  open  to  the  public, 
and  were  crowded  by  men,  women,  and  children  every 
Sunday,  with  every  conceivable  appliance  of  sensual  di- 
version, from  comedy,  tragedy,  songs,  dancing,  acrobatic 
sports  on  the  stage,  to  gambling,  drinking,  billiard-play- 
ing, bowling,  shooting,  and  fighting  in  the  auditorium 
and  lobbies.  Many  of  them  were  known  houses  of  as- 
signation and  prostitution.  The  repeated  attempts  to 
bring  this  system  under  the  decent  restraints  of  the 
theatre  law  were  nuo-atorv.  It  defied  the  ofiicers  of 
justice,  and  outraged  the  rights  of  society.  Dej^ending 
confessedly  on  its  Sunday  profits  for  support,  its  man- 
agers combined  to  defeat  ail  attempts  to  bring  the 
system  within  the  restraints  of  law  and  public  sentiment. 
The  nature  and  extent  of  this  evil  were  exposed  in  a 
pamphlet  of  24  pages  (Document  Xo.  11),  discussing 
the  claims  of  foreigners  to  immunity  for  their  vices, 
and  vindicatino-  the  constitutional  rio-ht  of  our  leg^islature 
to  restrain  the  abuses  of  our  civil  Sabbath,  whether  by 
native  or  foreign-born  citizens.  The  discussion  became 
general  and  animated  between  the  organs  of  American 
sentiment  and  the  German  press,  with  their  natural 
allies,  the  Sunday  papers  in  English.  The  latter  assum- 
ed the  position  that  the  Sunday  Beer-Garden  system  was 
supported  by  the  entire  German  population,  and  thus 
sought  to  impose  upon  political  parties  the  idea  that  re- 
straint of  their  "national  customs"  would  involve  the 
united  hostility  of  that  nationality.  The  large  and  re- 
spectable  class  of  orderly  and  Christian  Germans  re- 


22     SKETCH  OP  THE  SABBATH  REFORM. 

sented  this  imputation.  An  immense  gathering  in  Cooper 
Institute  avowed  their  attaclnnent  to  the  laws  and  in- 
stitutions of  their  adopted  country ;  protesting  "  against 
the  perversion  of  Smiday"  by  a  portion  of  their  country- 
men as  "  bringing  dishonour  on  the  German  name ;" 
and  approving  the  Sunday  laws  "  as  one  of  the  strongest 
guarantees  of  our  free  institutions,  as  a  wholesome 
check  upon  licentiousness  and  dissipation,  and  as  a  pre- 
ventive of  the  pauperism  and  crime  which  must  neces- 
sarily undermine  and  ultimately  destroy  the  liberty  of 
any  people." 

Our  Sunday  laws  enacted  fifty  years  ago  did  not  con- 
template such  formidable  offences  as  were  found  to  exist 
among  a  large  emigrant  population ;  and  it  became  neces- 
sary to  seek  the  enactment  of  a  statute  more  adequate 
to  their  suppression.  The  Sunday-Theatre  Act  of  1860 
encountered  the  most  virulent  opposition.  The  theatre, 
brewing,  and  lager  beer  interests  formed  associations 
to  resist  the  passage  or  enforcement  of  the  law,  raising 
funds  and  levying  a  tariff  on  the  Sunday  sales  of  lager 
for  this  purpose.  Numerous  delegations  visited  Albany, 
and  paid  agents  were  kept  there  to  prevent  the  suc- 
cess of  the  measure.  The  proceeds  of  theatrical  "  bene- 
fits "  were  devoted  to  the  same  object.  A  German  peti- 
tion for  the  repeal  of  all  Sunday  laws,  and  remonstrance 
against  the  theatre  law — claiming  to  have  from  10,000 
to  100,000  signatures — had  4,805  names  appended  to  it ; 
but  of  the  first  317  names  claiming  to  be  "citizens  of 
the  city  of  New  York,"  only  11  were  found  in  the  City 
Directory,  and  5  of  these  were  saloon-keepers  and  gro- 
cers !  The  respectable  Germans  rallied  and  sent  a  coun- 
ter-petition, numerously  signed.     The  act  became  a  law 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     23 

in  April,  1860.  The  theatre  proprietors  generally  defied 
the  law,  and  continued  to  violate  it — some  of  them 
openly,  and  one  or  two  under  the  sham  of  a  "  Shaker 
Congregation.'''^  The  police  authorities  made  frequent 
arrests — mostly  on  the  day  succeeding  the  offence.  Tlie 
counsel  of  the  "  House  of  Refuge,"  charged  with  the 
enforcement  of  the  civil  penalty,  proceeded  by  suits  and 
injunction  orders  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
and  was  soon  face  to  face  with  parties  who  had  long 
trifled  with  all  the  laws  regulating  theatrical  amuse- 
ments. In  every  suit  he  was  successful.  In  every  court 
where  the  question  was  raised,  the  constitutionality  of 
the  act,  though  contested  by  the  ablest  legal  talent,  was 
affirmed.  Meanwhile,  the  criminal  suits  matured,  and 
the  leading  offender  was  convicted  before  a  jury.  The 
appeal  to  the  General  Term  of  the  Supreme  Court  re- 
sulted in  the  memorable  decision  of  Judges  Clarke, 
Sutherland,  and  Allen,  sustaining  the  constitutionality 
of  laws  protecting  the  civil  Sabbath.  (See  Doc.  No. 
18.)  The  result  of  this  protracted  contest  has  been 
the  subjection  to  law  of  the  most  persistent  and  noto- 
rious offenders ;  the  settlement  of  the  principle  that 
foreigners  coming  among  us  are  to  respect  and  obey 
the  laws  they  find  here,  until  they  are  regularly  changed ; 
and  the  vindication  of  our  constitution  from  the  sophisms 
of  sceptical  and  lawless  classes. 

A  vigorous  onset  was  made  on  the  legislature  of  1861, 
to  effect  the  repeal  of  the  Sunday  theatre  act.  Large 
sums  of  money  were  raised  and  expended  for  this  pur- 
pose. Several  meetings  were  held  on  Sunday,  in  Sun- 
day theatres,  to  denounce  the  Sabbath  and  all  laws  for 
its  protection,  which  were  addressed  by  ex-"  clergymen," 


24     SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM. 

actors,  and  otlier  defenders  of  "  liberty,"  amidst  tlie 
fumes  of  lager  and  tobacco,  and  tlie  profane  babblings 
of  an  infidel  throng.  Petitions  for  the  abrogation  of  all 
Sunday  laws,  boasting  25,000  signatures,  but  containing 
fewer  names  in  fact  than  the  aggregate  number  of  lager 
and  liquor  sellers  in  New  York — three-fourths  of  them 
all  being  bogus — were  sent  to  iVlbany.  It  was  not  deemed 
needful  to  agitate  the  public  or  invite  signatures  to 
remonstrances.  All  that  was  done  was  to  appear  before 
the  committee  having  the  matter  in  charge,  furnish  in- 
formation to  the  legislature  as  to  the  working  of  the 
law,  and  invite  a  meeting  of  Germans  in  Cooper  Insti- 
tute. An  enthusiastic  gathering  of  some  3,000  of  them 
gave  the  legislature  and  the  public  to  understand  that 
Sunday  beer-gardens  Avere  doomed  by  Germans  them- 
selves. Nevertheless,  the  committee  on  cities  and  vil- 
lages, with  a  majority  of  its  members  from  New  York 
and  Brooklyn,  reported  a  bill  authorizing  the  sale  of 
malt  liquors  on  Sunday  and  on  all  other  days  of  the  week. 
The  minority  of  the  committee,  through  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Ball  of  Rensselaer,  presented  an  elaborate  report  against 
this  and  all  Sunday  license.  The  result  was  the  defeat 
of  the  anti-Sunday  scheme  by  a  vote  of  74  to  23 — no 
less  than  18  of  the  minority  representing  New  York  City 
and  its  vicinity.  No  subsequent  effort  has  been  made 
to  disturb  our  Sunday  laws. 

An  incidental  result  of  this  healthful  agitation  has 
been  the  suppression  of  the  "  Concert  Saloon^^  system ; 
first  on  Sundays,  under  the  operation  of  the  Sunday 
Theatre  Act  of  April,  1860,  and  then  on  all  days  of  the 
week,  by  the  passage  of  the  stringent  law  of  April, 
1862. 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     25 

3.  Protectox  of  the  Sabbath  in  Wak. 
The  stirring  events  of  our  unhappy  civil  war  involved 
new  and  imminent   perils  to  the    Sabbath  and  related 
interests.     What  with  necessary  inrOads  on  the  quiet 
and  order  of  a  time  of  peace,  and  the  license  regarded 
as  almost  inseparable  from  a  state  of  war,  the  most  serious 
apprehensions  were  entertained  that  the  barriers  of  law 
and  public  sentiment  so  happily  restored,  might  give 
way  before  the   pressure  of  unexpected  emergencies. 
For    a   time,  the    Sabbath    seemed   to    be   the   chosen 
day  for  the  movement  and   display  of  troops.      Reg- 
iment after    regiment,   from    this    and    other   States, 
marched  the   length   of  the    city,    and   embarked   for 
the  seat   of  war   on  Sunday,  calling  our   idle  popula- 
tion, young  and  old,  by  tens  of  thousands  to  witness 
the  pageant.     The  Committee  saw  this  drift  of  things 
with  pain,  but  deemed  it  prudent  to  forego  remonstrance 
until  the  pubhc  mind  should  resume  something  of  calm- 
ness ;    when  a  brief   appeal — '•'•  Sabbath  in  War'''' — was 
made  to  the  public  and  to  our   municipal   authorities, 
which  had  a  ready  response  from  the  press  and  the 
people.        Various    incipient    abuses    were    effectually 
checked  by  the  police.     The  arrangements  for  forward- 
ing troops  w^ere  modified  so  as  to  leave  the  Sabbath 
mostly  undisturbed  — Adjutant-General  Hillhouse  omit- 
ting the  Sabbath  wholly  from  the  programme  which 
started  a  regiment  for  the  seat  of  war  each  day  for  a 
period  of  some  three  weeks.     The  metropolis  soon  re- 
gained its  wonted  order  and  quiet,  and  has  passed  thus 
fi\r  through  a  period  of  war  with  steadily  diminishing 
lawlessness  and  crime. 

Meanwiiile,  tlie  movements  of  our  troops  at  the  seat 
2 


26  SKETCH    OF    THE   f?ABBATH    REFORM. 

of  war  became  notoriously  and  needlessly  defiant  of  the 
claims  of  the  Sabbath.  Nearly  all  the  engagements  of 
the  three-months'  volunteers  were  on  Sunday — and  their 
last  liumiliating  defeat  before  Manassas  was  in  a  Sunday 
battle.  The  Christian  sentiment  of  the  country  was  out- 
raged, and  expressed  itself  in  calm,  sorrowful  protest. 
The  Committee,  though  contemplating  chiefly  local  re- 
forms in  its  organization,  felt  constrained  to  embody  what 
they  thought  to  be  just  and  temperate  views  on  the  re- 
lations of  the  Sabbath  to  the  war — see  "  Plea  for  the 
Sabbath  in  War,''^  Doc.  No.  19 — which  they  gave  to  the 
press,  and  sent  in  Pamphlet  form  to  the  oflicers  of  gov- 
ernment, civil  and  military, — thousands  of  copies  ha\ - 
ing  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  line  and  company  officers 
and  soldiers.  The  copy  addressed  to  the  newly-appointeJ 
Major- General  commandmg  on  the  Potomac  was  accom- 
2:)anied  by  a  private  note,  August  30,  from  one  who 
"  claimed  more  than  a  mere  patriot's  interest  in  his  pub- 
lic career ; "  and  expressing  the  conviction  that  "  no 
single  act  would  be  more  potent  in  conciliating  and 
binding  to  himself  the  moral  and  religious  element  of 
the  North,  or  more  stimulate  and  reassure  the  Chris- 
tian patriotism  of  the  country,  than  one  that  should 
link  his  name  with  a  restored  Sabbath  for  the  army 
and  the  nation."  On  the  Cth  of  Sej^teraber,  that  mem- 
orable general  order  for  the  protection  of  the  rights  of 
soldiers  and  citizens  to  their  Sabbath,  which  may  be 
considered  as  the  most  signal  moral  incident  of  the  war, 
issued  from  the  cool  brain  and  warm  heart  of  General 
McClellan:  and  in  a  week's  time  it  flew  from  camp  to 
camp,  and  from  heart  to  heart,  throughout  the  loyal 
states  ;  inspiring  hope  and  faith  and  zeal  for  a  cause  thus 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM.     27 

redeemed  from  association  with  impiety ;  and  inangurat- 
ing  the  new  regime  of  discipline,  sobriety,  patience  and 
energy,  under  which,  Avith  the  blessing  of  the  Most  High, 
our  armies  are  gaining  victory  and  renown. 

4.   PHOMOTION  OF   THE    GENERAL    SaBBATH   KeFOBM. 

The  reaction  in  favour  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  repeated 
disasters  to  our  arms  in  needless  Sunday  battles,  and  in 
connection  with  the  noble  utterances  of  the  new  Gen- 
eral-m-Chief,  providentially  gave  national  proportions 
to  a  movement  which  had  been  chiefly  local.  The  time 
had  apparently  arrived  for  mviting  the  cooperation  of 
the  friends  of  the  Sabbath  throughout  the  country  in 
the  effort  to  restore  its  foundations  and  restrain  its  in- 
vaders. Especially  did  the  juncture  seem  favourable  for 
the  discussion  of  the  great  j^rinciples  of  divine  and 
human  legislation  on  which  the  Sabbath  is  based,  whether 
in  its  sacred  or  civil  relations.  With  this  view  the 
Committee  issued  their  Circular  Letter  to  the  clergy — 
*'  The  Sabbath  and  the  Pulpit,''  Doc.  Xo.  20— of  which 
some  5,000  copies  were  mailed  to  pastors,  besides  its 
newspaper  circulation.  Numerous  responses  have  been 
received  to  this  Letter,  and  a  more  general  discussion 
has  been  given  to  the  Sabbath  question  by  the  Pulpit 
than  perhaps  ever  before. 

The  Committee  have  aimed  to  keep  the  active  friends 
of  the  Sabbath  in  various  parts  of  this  country  and  in 
Europe  apprised  of  the  progress  of  the  Reform  with 
which  they  were  charged.  Their  Documents  have  been 
widely  dispersed.  Those  in  German  have  been  sent 
in  large  numbers  to  leading  Christians  on  the  Continent. 
It  is  with  unfeigned  gratification  that  they  observe  a 
steady   and  healthful   advance    in    Sabbath    sentiment 


28     SKETCH  OF  THE  SABBATH  REFORM. 

throughout  our  country  and  in  the  Old  World.  Among 
other  mdications,  we  may  note  the  energetic  and  success- 
ful movements  in  California  for  the  enactment  and  en- 
forcement of  Sunday  Laws;  similar  efforts  in  Nevada; 
the  organization  of  Sabbath  Defence  Committees  in 
various  cities,  and  the  Avide  discussion  of  the  subject 
in  the  Pulpit  and  by  the  Press.  In  Great  Britain,  un- 
wonted attention  is  given  to  the  suppression  of  Sab- 
bath profanations ;  and  on  the  Continent,  the  proceed- 
ings at  the  Geneva  meeting  of  the  "Evangelical  Al- 
liance" have  led  to  the  organization  of  efficient  Sabbath 
Associations  in  Switzerland  and  elsewhere,  with  the 
promise  of  fruitful  results.  It  may  be  that  the  provi- 
dential prominence  given  to  the  Sabbath  in  our  national 
humiliations  and  triumphs,  may  serve  to  hold  it  up  to 
the  world  with  new  impressiveness  as  inseparably  asso- 
ciated with  order,  law,  liberty  and  religion :  so  that 
a  restored  Union  and  a  recovered  Sabbath  may  together 
vindicate  the  principles  and  illustrate  the  conditions  of 
self-governing  institutions  to  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Pv.  S.  C. 


THE 

ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  SABBATH, 


REV.  N.  L.  RICE,  D.  D., 

PA8T0E  OP  THE  PEBSBTTBKIAN  CHTTECH  COE.  5tH  AVENUE  AND  19tH  STEEET. 


THE 


SiT^CE  the  fall  of  man,  tlie  conflict  between 
truth  and  error,  religion  and  irreligion,  sound 
morals  and  immorality,  has  been  incessant,  and 
it  must  continue  till  the  God  of  truth  and 
righteousness  "shall  set  judgment  in  the 
earth."  As  in  all  other  conflicts,  so  in  this, 
there  are  cardinal  points  around  which  the 
contest  has  been  most  obstinate — each  of  the 
parties  convinced  that  success  or  failure  de- 
pends upon  the  gaining  and  holding  of  these. 
One  of  the  most  important  of  these  points  is 
the  question  respecting  the  divine  authority 
of  the  Sabbath,  both  as  a  religious  and  civil 
institution.  The  estimate  put  upon  the  ques- 
tion by  both  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of 
religion  and  morals,  is  indicated  by  the  perse- 
vering earnestness  with  Avhich  the  controversy 

(31) 


32      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

luis  heen  carried  on.  In  tlio  iii'st  of  a  series 
of  discourses  on  this  great  subject,  our  atten- 
tion mayl)e  properly  occupied  witli  the  Orighi 
and  History  of  the  Sahhaili. 

The  subject  is  far  too  extensive  to  be  fully 
treated  in  a  single  discourse.  I  shall  be  under 
the  necessity,  therefore,  of  contenting  myself 
with  a  very  brief  presentation  of  some  of  the 
leading  principles  and  facts. 

I.  The  origin  of  the  Sabbath  is  distinctly 
intimated  in  the  text,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made 
for  man."     From  which  we  learn, 

1.  That  the  Author  of  tlie  Sabbath  is  the 
Creator  of  man.  He  who  made  man,  and 
knew  perfectly  what  institutions  would  meet 
his  necessities,  appointed  for  him  the  Sabbath. 
Six  parts  of  his  time  were  allowed  for  ordinary 
avocations ;  the  seventh  was  set  apart  for  sa- 
cred duties  and  enjoyments.  On  this  point 
there  can  be  no  controversy  between  believers 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  They  may 
differ  respecting  the  time  when  the  Sabbath 
was  instituted.  They  may  differ  as  to  the 
question,  whether  it  is  of  universal  ol)ligation, 


ORIGIN    AND    IIISTOHY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      33 

or  whether  it  is  a  Jewish  institution.  They 
may  also  differ  on  the  question,  whether  the 
Christian  Sabbath  is  identical  with  the  Jewish, 
with  only  the  change  of  the  day.  And  they 
may  not  entirely  agree  respecting  the  degree 
of  strictness  with  which  it  ought  to  be  ob- 
served. But  all  must  acknowledge  that  the 
keeping  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  holy  day,  has  been 
and  is  binding,  only  because  God  has  com- 
manded it.  It  is  the  Creator  of  man  who  ap- 
pointed the  Sabbath  for  him,  and  said,  "Re- 
member the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy." 

2.  The  text  also  discovers  to  us  the  time 
when  the  Sabbath  was  appointed.  It  was 
made  for  man,  not  for  any  particular  nation, 
age,  or  dispensation,  but  for  the  whole  race. 
The  word  man  is  generic,  and  can  mean  noth- 
ing less  than  the  human  race.  But  if  the  Sab- 
bath was  made  for  the  race,  its  appointment 
must  have  been  coeval  with  the  creation  of 
man.  The  Scriptures  afford  ample  evidence 
that  this  is  true. 

First.  It  is  confirmed  1)y  the  obvious  mean- 
ing  of    the   inspired    narrative:    "Thus    the 
2- 


34      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OP    THE    SABBATH. 

heavens  and  the  earth  were  finished,  and  all 
the  host  of  them.  And  on  the  seventh  day 
God  ended  his  work  which  he  had  made. 
And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sancti- 
fied it;  because  that  in  it  he  had  rested  from 
all  his  Avorks  which  God  created  and  made." 
To  bless  and  sanctify  a  day,  can  mean  nothing 
but  to  set  it  apart  for  religious  services,  and  to 
make  it  a  day  of  special  blessing  to  those  who 
rightly  observe  it.  Such  is  the  uniform  mean- 
ing of  the  terms  employed;  and  such  is  the 
view  given  of  the  Sabbath  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah  :  "  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the 
Sabbath,  from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy 
day,  and  shalt  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the 
holy  of  the  Lord,  honourable  ;  and  shalt  honour 
him,  not  doing  thine  own  way,  nor  finding 
thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine  own 
word  ;  then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the 
Lord,  and  I  will  cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the 
high  places  of  the  earth,  and  feed  thee  with  the 
heritage  of  Jacob  thy  father."  (Isa.  Iviii.  13, 
14.)  The  plain  meaning  of  the  inspired  nar- 
rative, then,  is,  that  at  the  time  when  the  work 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      35 

of  creation  was  completed,  and  Grod  rested 
from  Lis  work,  he  apjDointed  tlie  seventh  day  to 
be  a  religious  rest,  and  a  day  of  religious  duty 
and  enjoyments. 

Second.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  rea- 
son assigned  for  the  sanctification  of  the  sev- 
enth day,  viz :  "  Because  that  in  it  he  had 
rested  from  all  his  work,  which  God  created 
and  made."  The  same  reason  is  assis^ned  in 
the  Decalogue  for  keeping  the  Sabbath-day 
holy :  "  For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven 
and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and 
rested  the  seventh  day ;  wherefore  the  Lord 
blessed  the  Sabbath-day  and  hallowed  it." 
Now,  it  is  perfectly  evident  that  the  reason 
which  God  gave  for  sanctifying  the  Sabbath,  is 
every  whit  as  strong  in  favour  of  its  sanctifica- 
tion at  the  beginning  of  time,  as  two  thousand 
years  later;  and  if  the  reason  existed  in  all 
its  strength  immediately  after  the  work  of  cre- 
ation was  completed,  can  we  suppose  that  the 
sanctification  was  deferred  for  centuries  after- 
ward % 

Tliird.  That  the  Sabbath  was  instituted  im- 


36      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

mediately  after  tlie  work  of  creation  was  com- 
pleted, is  further  confirmed  by  the  fact  that 
the  division  of  time  into  weeks  of  seven  days, 
is  distinctly  traceable  through  the  patriarchal 
aores,  and  is  found  amonc^st  the  traditions  of 
the  nations  of  antiquity.  It  is  quite  probable 
that  this  division  of  time  is  referred  to,  when 
it  is  stated  that,  "  in  process  of  time,"  Cain  and 
Abel  brouofht  their  offerinsrs  to  the  Lord. 
The  literal  traiislation  of  the  language  is,  at 
the  end  of  days.  We  discover  this  division  of 
time  in  the  days  of  I^oah.  After  the  return 
of  the  dove,  sent  out  from  the  ark,  "  he  stayed 
yet  other  seven  days  ;  and  again  he  sent  forth 
the  dove  out  of  the  ark."  When  the  dove  again 
returned,  bearing  in  its  mouth  an  olive  leaf, 
"  he  stayed  yet  other  seven  days,"  and  again 
sent  it  forth.  This  division  of  time  is  found 
amongst  the  traditions  of  all  the  eastern  na- 
tions, and  indeed  amon^i^st  those  of  almost  all 

7  O 

nations.  Now,  this  division  is  not  a  natural 
one.  There  is  nothing  in  the  motion  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  to  suggest  it.  It  is  impossible, 
consequently,  to    account   for    the    prevalence 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      37 

of  it,  except  upon  the  supposition  of  a  divine 
appointment  in  the  beginning  of  time. 

Fourth.  The  first  notice  of  the  Sabbath,  af- 
tei'  the  exocle  of  the  Jews  from  Egypt,  is  not 
that  of  an  institution  just  then  appointed,  but 
of  one  ah^eady  well  known.  In  the  16th  chap- 
ter of  Exodus,  in  connection  with  the  gather- 
ing of  the  manna,  we  read  :  ^'  And  it  came  to 
pass  that  on  the  sixth  day  they  gathered  twice 
as  much,  two  omers  for  one  man  ;  and  all  the 
rulers  of  the  cono:reo:ation  came  and  told  Mo- 
ses.  And  he  said  unto  them.  This  is  that 
which  the  Lord  hath  said.  To-morrow  is  the 
rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Loi'd :  bake 
that  which  ye  will  bake  to-day,  and  seethe 
that  ye  will  seethe  ;  and  that  which  remaineth 
over  lay  up  for  you  to  be  kept  until  the  morn- 
ing." It  is  important  to  observe  that  on  the 
sixth  day  of  the  week,  the  people  gathered 
double  the  quantity  of  manna  without  any  di- 
rection from  Moses ;  for  if  he  had  so  ordered, 
the  rulers  must  have  known  it.  Why,  then, 
did  they  do  this  ?  Most  manifestly,  because 
they  knew  that  the  seventh  day  was  the  Sab- 


38      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

bath,  when  tbey  were  to  abstain  from  secular 
work.  Evidently  the  reason  why  the  rulers 
came  and  told  Moses,  was  because  the  people 
had  been  forbidden  to  gather  moi'e  than  that 
which  was  sufficient  for  one  day ;  and  they 
were  doubtful  whether  the  day  preceding  the 
Sabbath  was  to  be  an  exception  to  the  general 
rule.  But  not  a  word  is  said  leading  to  the 
conclusion  that  now,  for  the  first  time,  the  Sab- 
bath was  appointed.  Wo  explanation  is  given 
of  the  reasons  for  the  appointment  of  such  a 
day,  or  of  the  manner  of  its  observance.  This 
occurrence,  therefore,  affords  evidence  conclu- 
sive, that  the  Sabbath,  was  already  known  as  a 
day  divinely  appointed  as  a  holy  rest. 

Fiftlu  The  perpetuity  and  the  universal  ob- 
ligation of  the  Sabbath,  and  consequently  its 
appointment  in  the  beginning  of  time,  are  dis- 
tinctly indicated  by  the  place  assigned  it  in  the 
Decalocfue.  It  is  acknowledp:ed  that  the  othe-r 
nine  precepts  are  of  universal  and  perpetual 
obligation  ;  and  for  this  reason  they  were  writ- 
ten on  tables  of  stone  by  the  finger  of  God. 
But  why  should  a  ceremonial  institution,  de- 


OEIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF   THE    SABBATH.      39 

signed  for  only  one  nation,  and  destined  to 
pass  away,  be  incorporated  in  a  law  wliicli  is 
obligatory  on  all  men,  and  is  to  continue  in 
force  to  the  end  of  time  ?  True,  there  is  some- 
thing of  the  nature  of  a  positive  command  in 
it ;  but  it  is  also  clearly  moral.  All  our  time 
belongs  to  God.  Six  parts  of  it  he  allows  to 
be  devoted  to  ordinary  pursuits  and  pleasures; 
but  the  seventh  he  retains,  and  requires  it  to 
be  specially  and  exclusively  devoted  to  spirit- 
ual duties.  The  obligation  to  employ  our 
time,  or  any  part  of  it,  according  to  divine  di- 
rection, is  clearly  moral.  And  no  reason  can 
be  assigned  for  the  placing  of  the  command  to 
hallow  the  Sabbath  in  the  Decalogue,  save 
that,  like  the  other  nine,  it  is  of  universal  and 
perpetual  obligation.  And  since  the  other 
commandments  were  in  substance  given  in  the 
beginning  of  time,  so  was  the  fourth. 

Sixth.  The  reasons  for  the  institution  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  ends  for  which  it  was  appoint- 
ed, prove  that  it  was  not  designed  for  one  na- 
tion, for  a  limited  period,  but  for  all  men,  through 
all  acres.     Thus  we  are  brous^ht  to  consider, 


40      ORIGIN    AXD    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

3.  The  reasons  and  necessities  in  wliicli  the 
S abl) at h  origin  at  e  cl. 

What  are  the  chief  ends  for  which  the  Sab- 
bath was  instituted  ?  Or  in  what  necessities 
of  man  did  it  originate  ? 

First.  To  1>egin  with  tlie  first  and  lowest  of 
the  reasons  for  its  appointment,  it  originated 
in  the  physical  necessities  of  man.  Whatever 
might  have  been  the  results,  physically  consid- 
ered, if  m.an  had  not  fallen  into  sin,  and  thus 
become  mortal,  two  truths  are  now  abundantly 
established,  viz : 

The  first  is,  that  besides  the  ordinary  repose 
in  sleep,  the  human  system  requires  one-seventh 
part  of  the  time  for  rest.  Six  hundred  and 
forty-one  physicians  signed  a  petition  to  the 
British  parliament  against  opening  the  Crystal 
Palace  for  profit  on  Sundays,  in  which  they 
say,  "  Your  petitioners,  from  their  acquaintance 
with  the  labouring  classes,  and  with  the  laws 
which  regulate  the  human  economy,  are  con- 
vinced that  a  seventh  day  of  rest,  instituted 
by  God,  and  coeval  with  the  existence  of  man, 
is  essential  to  the  bodily  health  of  man  in  ev- 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      41 

ery  station  of  life."  Amongst  these  physicians 
were  some  who  stand  at  the  head  of  tlie  pro- 
fession, such  as  Farre,  Carpenter,  and  others. 
A  multitude  of  similar  testimonies  might  easily 
be  adduced  ;  but  for  the  purpose  of  the  pres- 
ent discourse,  which  is  only  introductory  to  a 
more  extended  and  thorouorh  discussion  of  the 

o 

subject,  it  is  deemed  unnecessary. 

It  has  been  further  proved  by  experiments 
and  testimonies  the  most  ample  and  convinc- 
ing, that,  take  one  month  with  another,  those 
who  rest  on  the  Sabbatli,  will  perform  more  la- 
bour annually  than  those  vvdio  devote  every 
day  to  labour.  The  well-known  philanthropist 
William  Wilberforce,  says,  ''  I  remember  that, 
during  the  war,  when  it  was  proj^osed  to  work 
all  Sunday  in  one  of  the  royal  f^ictories,  for  a 
continuance,  not  for  an  occasional  service,  it  was 
found  that  the  workmen,  who  obtained  gov- 
ernment consent  to  abstain  from  working  on 
Sundays,  executed,  in  a  few  months,  even  more 
work  than  the  others."  A  great  number  of 
facts  to  the  same  purpose,  have  been  collected 
and  published  by  the  friends  of  the  Sabbath. 


42      OEIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

2.  The  chief  design  of  the  Sabbath  is  to 
meet  the  moral  and  religious  necessities  of 
mankind,  that  they  may  "glorify  God  and  en- 
joy Him  forever."  Men  possess  a  moral,  as 
well  as  a  physical  and  an  intellectual  nature ; 
and  their  moral  nature  controls  their  destiny 
for  both  worlds,  is  their  glory  or  their  shame, 
and  renders  them  a  blessing  or  a  curse  to  each 
other.  It  may  be  safely  stated,  as  a  general 
rule,  that  the  true  prosperity  and  happiness  of 
men,  even  in  this  life,  have  a  very  marked  pro- 
portion to  the  purity  of  their  moral  character. 
This  great  truth  is  even  more  strikingly  seen 
in  the  history  of  families,  than  in  that  of  indi- 
viduals ;  and  the  history  of  the  world  demon- 
strates nothing  more  conclusively,  than  that 
^'  righteousness  exalteth  a  nation."  Universal 
experience  justifies  the  declaration  of  David, 
that  in  keeping  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord  "  there  is  great  reward." 

But  there  can  be  no  greater  folly,  than  to 
limit  one's  thoughts  and  labours  to  a  mere 
point  in  his  endless  being.  We  are  immortal ; 
and  sui'ely  no  one  can  doubt  that  his  happi- 


OEIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      43 

ness,  a  tliousand  years  hence,  will  be  as  im- 
portant to  him,  as  his  happiness  at  the  present 
hour.  It  will  be  far  more  important,  since  the 
mind,  in  the  indefinite  expansion  of  all  its 
powers  and  ca2:)acities,  becomes  constantly  ca- 
pable of  intenser  wretchedness,  or  of  more  ex- 
alted enjoyment.  And  no  truth  taught  in 
the  sacred  ScrijDtures,  more  commends  itself  to 
every  man's  conscience  and  judgment,  than 
that  without  holiness  "  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord."  Nor  is  there  a  sins^le  truth  which  re- 
ceives  stronsrer  confirmation  from  universal  ex- 
perience,  than  that  the  conduct  of  the  present 
forms  the  character  for  the  future,  and  becomes 
a  source  of  pleasure  or  of  pain,  of  joy  or  of 
grief.  It  is,  therefore,  clear  beyond  a  question, 
that  all  the  interests  of  humanity  are  not  only 
connected  with  its  moral  culture,  but  abso- 
lutely dependent  upon  it. 

It  is,  then,  most  manifest  that  the  immortal 
subjects  of  a  perfect  moral  government,  must 
have  time  and  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  their  duties  to  God  and  to  each 
other,  and  with   the  motives  and   encourage- 


44      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

ments  to  tlie  clischargo  of  them.  The  moral 
affections  must  be  moulded,  and  the  moral  con- 
duct guided  by  religious  and  moral  truth.  If 
men  are  not  to  l)e  the  shives  of  sin,  they  must 
know  the  truth ;  and  the  truth  must  make 
them  free.  (John  viii.  32.)  All  religion,  all 
virtue,  all  holiness,  consists  of  affections  mould- 
ed by  God's  truth,  through  the  Holy  S|)irit's 
influence,  and  called  into  exercise  by  that 
truth.  As  Bacon  has  happily  expressed  the  idea, 
"  Truth  prints  virtue."  Paul  teaches  the  same 
doctrine,  when  he  makes  true  religion  to  be 
obedience  to  the  truth.  (Rom.  ii.  8.)  But 
the  power  of  truth  can  never  be  felt,  nor  its 
guiding  light  followed,  until  it  is  known  ;  and  it 
cannot  become  known,  unless  time  be  taken  to 
learn  it. 

If  it  is  necessary  for  holy  beings  to  know  the 
truth,  that  they  may  feel  its  power,  and  fol- 
low its  light,  the  necessity  is  far  greater  in  de- 
praved beings.  For  their  minds  are  dark,  and 
they  learn  divine  truth  slowly.  Their  hearts 
tend  powerfully  in  wrong  directions ;  and  all 
the  mighty  force  of  that  gospel  which  is  "  tlic 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      45 

power  of  God  unto  salvation,"  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  restrain  them.  A  radical  change 
must  be  effected  in  them,  and  God's  method  is 
to  "  sanctify  them  through  the  truth."  The 
crreat  commission  under  which  the  world  is  to 
be  reclaimed  to  God,  reads,  "  Go  teach  all  na- 
tions ;"  and  if  men  are  to  be  taught,  there  must 
be  time  to  teach  them,  and  time  for  them  to 
learn. 

It  is  necessary  not  only  that  mankind  shall 
have  time  to  learn  their  duty,  but  likewise 
that  they  have  time  to  cultivate  the  virtues 
that  should  adorn  their  characters.  The  mere 
knowledge  of  truth  is  of  no  avail.  The  word 
of  God  makes  its  first  appeal  to  the  intellect ; 
but  it  accomplishes  its  mission  only  Vv^hen  it 
reaches  the  heart.  And  it  becomes  the  instru- 
ment of  sanctification,  only  as  it  is  the  theme 
of  devout  meditation.  Of  the  blessed  man  it 
is  written  :  "  His  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  in  his  law  doth  he  meditate  day 
and  night.  And  he  shall  be  like  a  tree  plant- 
ed by  the  i-ivers  of  water,  that  bringeth  forth 
his  fi'uit  in  his  season  ;  his  leaf  also  shall  not 


46      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

wither ;  and  whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  pros- 
per." (Ps.  i.)  It  is  of  the  utmost  moment, 
then,  that  during  one  day  in  seven  the  cares 
and  pleasures  of  the  world  be  dismissed  from 
the  mind,  that  it  may  devoutly  meditate  upon 
the  wonderful  truths  of  God's  word.  "  Those 
that  be  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  shall 
flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God.  They  shall 
still  bring  forth  fruit  in  old  age :  they  shall  be 
fat  and  flourishing."  (Ps.  xcii.  13,  14.)  True 
religion  is  not  the  native  growth  of  the  human 
soul.  The  earth,  fruitful  of  thorns  and  briers, 
but  too  faithfully  reflects  the  state  of  the  hu- 
man heart.  If,  then,  men  are  to  cultivate 
piety,  there  must  be  time  to  do  it. 

If  the  Sabbath  is  necessary,  that  men  may 
learn  their  duty,  and  cultivate  piety,  it  is  like- 
wise most  desirable  as  a  time  for  relisfious  en- 
joyment.  Happiness  is  gratified  affection. 
And  since  the  moral  affections  are  the  noblest, 
and  should  be  the  controlling"  affections  of  the 
soul,  the  exercise  and  gratification  of  these  af- 
fections afford  the  highest  happiness  of  which 
we  are  susceptible.     We  take  time  for  social 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      47 

intercoui'se  with,  our  friends,  that  we  may  en- 
joy the  pleasures  flowing  from  our  natural  and 
social  affections.  We  take  tune  to  visit  the 
beautiful  and  sublime  scenery  of  our  world, 
and  to  contemplate  the  beauties  of  art,  that 
we  may  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  refined  taste. 
Shall  we  not,  then,  take  time  to  hold  commun- 
ion with  the  glorious  Creator  and  Redeemer 
of  the  world,  and  with  his  children,  and  to 
contemplate  the  beauties  and  glories  of  heav- 
en, that  we  may  experience  the  highest  joys  ? 
"  For  a  day  in  thy  courts  is  better  than  a  thou° 
sand." 

The  proportion  of  time,  the  seventh  part, 
reminds  us  of  the  work  of  creation,  and  thus 
leads  us  to  remember  our  Creator ;  whilst 
the  particular  day  now  observed,  reminds  us 
of  the  work  of  redemption,  and  leads  us  to 
faith  in  the  Redeemer.  And  then  the  duties 
and  privileges  meet,  in  the  highest  degi-ee,  the 
religious  and  moral  necessities  of  men. 

Whatever  special  reasons,  then,  existed, 
binding  the  Jews  to  observe  the  Sabbath,  it  is 
certain  that  the  main  reasons  for  its  observance 


48      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

apply  eqiiiilly  to  all  men,  in  all  ages.  If  tlie 
Jews  ono'ht  to  liave  observed  the  Sabbath,  be- 
cause  tlie  work  of  creation  was  completed  in 
six  days,  and  the  Creator  rested  on  the  sev- 
enth, ong^lit  not  the  Gentiles  to  observe  it  for 
the  saiiie  reason  ?  Have  they  not  the  same  in- 
terest in  the  work  of  creation  ?  and  are  they 
not  under  the  same  obligation  gratefully  and 
adoringly  to  remember  their  Creator  ?  "  Is  he 
the  God  of  the  Jews  only  ?  is  he  not  also  of 
the  Gentiles  ?  Yes,  of  the  Gentiles  also."  If 
the  Jews  needed  physical  rest,  and  required 
time  to  learn  their  duties  to  God,  to  cultivate 
piety,  to  enjoy  exalted  pleasures,  do  not  all 
these  reasons  apply  as  fully  to  the  Gentiles  ? 
Have  not  these  existed,  in  all  their  force,  from 
the  creation  of  the  first  man  ?  and  will  they 
not  continue  in  all  their  force  to  the  end  of 
time  ? 

God  gave  to  his  people,  the  Jews,  a  civil,  as 
well  as  a  moral  law ;  and  he  constituted  the 
Sabbath  a  civil,  as  well  as  a  religious  institu- 
tion. In  one  instance,  at  least,  during  the  so- 
journ of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  wilder- 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      49 

ness,  the  presumptuous  violation  of  the  la-w 
of  the  Sabbath  was  visited  by  the  penalty  of 
death.  The  fiict  that  God  made  it  a  civil  in- 
stitution, indicates  clearly  the  duty  of  all 
civil  legislators,  unless  it  can  be  sbown  that  tlie 
reasons  why  the  Jewish  nation  should  have  a 
Sabbath,  do  not  apply  to  other  nations.  But 
as  individuals  and  families  have  their  respec- 
tive accountability  to  God,  so  do  nations.  And 
as  the  civil  ruler  is  "  a  minister  of  God,"  he 
must  make  his  legislation  conform  to  God's 
legislation.  Says  Blackstone,  ''  Upon  these 
two  foundations,  the  law  of  nature  and  the 
law  of  revelation,  depend  all  human  laws ; 
that  is  to  say,  no  human  laws  should  be  suffered 
to  contradict  these."  Now,  God  has  command- 
ed all  men  to  remember  the  Sabbath-day  to 
keep  it  holy ;  no  civil  ruler,  therefore,  has  the 
right  to  require  his  subjects  to  labour  on  that 
day,  save  in  case  of  necessity.  And  since 
"  righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,"  it  is  the  wis- 
dom of  civil  rulers  to  protect  the  people,  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  divinely-appointed  day 
for  the  cultivation  of  virtue.  This  is  eminent- 
3 


50      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

ly  true  of  a  free  govern nieDt,  since  all  such 
governments  depend  upon  the  moral  forces. 
The  Sabbath,  then,  originated  in  the  moral  ne- 
cessities of  nations,  as  well  as  of  individuals 
and  families. 

II.  The  history  of  the  Sabbath  divides  it- 
self naturally  into  three  periods.  The  first, 
from  the  beginning  of  time  to  the  giving  of 
the  Law  at  Sinai ;  the  second,  from  the  giving 
of  the  Law  to  the  introduction  of  the  New 
Dispensation  ;  the  third,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  New  Dispensation  to  tbe  present 
time. 

Tlie  only  history  w^e  have  of  the  first  period 
is  extremely  brief.  It  cannot  be  expected, 
therefore,  that  there  w^ould  be  anything  more 
than  an  occasional  mention  of  the  Sabbath, 
together  with  occasional  references  to  it.  It  is 
pleasant  to  think  that  the  first  day  Adam  and 
Eve  spent  on  earth  was  the  Sabbatb  ;  and  we 
may  w^ell  believe,  that  the  sinless  pair  kept 
that  day  holy.  With  what  pleasing  wonder 
and  religious  awe  they  must  have  contemplated 
the  beauties  and  sublimities  of  the  new  crea- 


ORIGIX    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      51 

tion  around  them,  and  with  what  holy  joy- 
must  they  have  held  communion  with  the 
Creator  of  all  things.  This  may  have  been 
the  only  Sabbath  that  dawned  on  our  world 
before  sin  defiled  it,  and  brought  it  under  the 
curse.  We  may  venture  to  believe,  too,  that 
after  the  fall,  our  first  father  and  mother, 
taught  of  God,  and  encouraged  by  the  prom- 
ise that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise 
the  serpent's  head,  rested  from  their  toils  on 
the  holy  day,  and  offered  in  sacrifice  the  ani- 
mals whose  skins  afforded  them  clothing:,  and 
that  it  was  in  accordance  with  their  example 
and  instruction,  that  Cain  and  Abel  brousfht 
their  respective  offerings  "  at  the  end  of 
days."  And  it  is  not  unduly  straining  the  lan- 
guage of  inspiration  to  believe  that,  in  the 
days  of  Seth,  when  men  "  began  to  call  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord,"  their  public  worship  was 
on  the  day  which  was  sanctified  and  blest  from 
the  beginning.  Moreover,  since  it  is  certain 
that  Noah  was  acquainted  with  the  divine  di- 
vision of  time  into  weeks  of  seven  days,  there 
is  good  reason   to   believe  that  he,  and  Enoch 


52      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

before  liiiii,  delighted  in  tlie  observance  of  the 
holy  day. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  sojourn  of  the 
Jews  in  Egypt,  when  they  were  reduced  to 
bondao^e,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  must 
have  fallen  greatly  into  disuse;  and  this  is 
probably  one  reason  why  the  piety  and  mor- 
als of  the  people  had  sunk  so  low.  Yet,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  day  Avas  not  forgotten;  for 
when  the  manna  began  to  fall,  the  people, 
though  especially  forbidden  to  gather  more 
than  enough  for  a  day  at  a  time,  did  on  the 
sixth  day  provide  themselves  with  double  the 
ordinary  quantity.  And  it  is  true,  beyond  a 
question,  that  from  the  day  they  left  Egypt, 
guided  by  the  mysterious  pillar  of  cloud  and 
fire,  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath  was  observed. 

The  history  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  giving 
of  the  Law  to  the  New  Dispensation,  exhibits 
three  general  phases : 

1.  There  were  periods,  when  the  day  was 
observed,  in  some  good  degree,  as  God  designed 
it  to  be  observed.  And  it  is  worthy  of  spe- 
cial remark,  that  the  times  of  the  f^iithful  ob- 


OEIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      53 

servanee  of  the  Sabbath,  were  those  in  which 
religion  was  in  a  revived  and  growing  state.    It 
is  needless  to  remark  that,  during  the  sojourn  in 
the  wilderness,  the  day  was  observed  with  strict- 
ness.    In  the  days  of  JN^ehemiah,  after  the  re- 
turn from  the  Babylonisli  captivity,  tliere  was 
a  revived  state   of  religion,  and   with  this  a 
higher  regard  for  tlie  Sabbath,  both  as  a  re- 
ligious and  civil  institution.     At  an  immense 
gathering  of  the  people  in  Jerusalem,  when  the 
Scriptures  had  been  read  and  expounded,  for 
several  days,  to  a  crowd  so  intensely  interested 
as  to  stand  for  hours  to  bear  it ;  in  a  public 
prayer,  the  Levites,  recounting  the  many  and 
great  blessings   God   had   bestowed  upon  the 
Jews,  made  special  mention  of  the  holy  Sab- 
bath, as  thougb  it  were  one  of  the  most  pre- 
cious of  them  all.     "  Thou  camest  down  also 
upon  Mount    Sinai,   and   spakest  with    them 
from  heaven,   and   gavest   them    right   judg- 
ments, and  true  laws,  and  good  statutes  and 
commandments  ;  and  madest  known  unto  them 
thy  holy  Sabbatb."     And  they  entered  into  a 
solemn  covenant,  that  "  if  the  people  of  the 


54      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

land  bring  ware  or  any  victuals  on  the  Sabbath- 
day  to  sell,  that  we  would  not  buy  it  of  them 
on  the  Sabbath,  or  on  the  holy  day."  And 
Nehemiah,  discovering  violations  of  the  Sab- 
bath in  selling  and  buying,  commanded  the 
gates  of  the  city  to  be  closed  on  the  evening 
before,  "  and  charsred  that  thev  should  not  be 
opened  till  after  the  Sabbath."  And  when 
those  engaged  in  the  different  kinds  of  traffic 
lodged  w^ithout  the  gate,  he  let  them  know 
that,  if  the  offense  were  repeated,  he  would 
have  them  arrested. 

Facts,  such  as  these,  leave  us  no  room  to 
doubt  concerning  the  estimate  placed  upon  the 
Sabbath,  both  as  a  I'eligious  and  civil  institu- 
tion, by  inspired  men  ;  and  they  demonstrate 
that  the  revival  of  religion  manifests  itself  by 
a  higher  regard  of  the  holy  day,  and  a  more 
conscientious  observance  of  it.  How  could  it 
be  otherwise  ?  They  who  take  delight  in  the 
service  of  God,  and  in  the  ordinances  of  his 
house,  must  "  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the 
holy  of  the  Lord,  honourable."  And  the  true 
patriot,  who  believes  in  the  inseparable  con- 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      55 

nection  between  the  prevalence  of  religion  and 
sound  morals,  and  the  peace  and  prosperity  of 
nations,  cannot  but  prize  the  Sabbath  as  a  civil 
institution. 

2.  TheTe  were  periods  when  the  Sabbath  was 
greatly  profaned,  or  disregarded ;  and  these 
were  times  when  the  standard  of  religion  and 
morals  was  very  low.  And  not  only  were 
those  violations  of  the  Sabbath  strongly  con- 
demned by  inspired  men,  but  the  overwhelm- 
ing judgments  of  God,  which  came  upon  the 
church  and  the  nation,  were  declared  to  be 
consequent  upon  the  profanation  of  God's  holy 
day.  The  prophet  Jeremiah  was  commanded 
to  go  and  stand  in  the  gates  of  the  city,  by 
which  the  kings  of  Judah  passed  out  and  in, 
and  to  proclaim  to  them,  ''  Thus  saith  the 
Lord.  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  bear  no 
burden  on  the  Sabbath-day,  nor  bring  it  in  by 
the  gates  of  Jerusalem ;  neither  carry  forth 
a  burden  out  of  your  houses  on  the  Sabbath- 
day,  neither  do  ye  any  work,  but  hallow  ye 
the  Sabbath-day,  as  I  commanded  your  fath- 
ers."    Connected  with  obedience  to  this  com- 


56      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

maud,  was  tlie  promise  of  great  blessings 
and  great  prosperity ;  and  the  penalty  of 
disobedience  was  announced  tlius  :  ''Then  will 
I  kindle  a  fire  in  the  gates  thereof,  and  it  shall 
devour  the  palaces  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  shall 
not  be  quenclied."  "  But,"  says  the  prophet, 
"  they  obeyed  not,  neither  inclined  their  ear,  but 
made  their  neck  stiff,  that  they  might  not  hear, 
nor  receive  instruction."  (Jer.  xvii.  19-27.) 
Therefore  divine  judgments  overwhelmed 
them.  And  after  their  return  from  the 
captivity  foretold  by  Jeremiah,  when  'Ne- 
hemiah  saw  some  treading  wine-presses  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  bringing  in  sheaves,  and 
lading  asses,  and  the  like,  he  testified  against 
them.  And  he  says,  "Then  I  contended 
with  the  nobles  of  Judah,  and  said  un- 
to them,  What  evil  thing  is  this  that  ye  do, 
and  profane  the  Sabbath-day  ?  Did  not  our 
fathers  thus,  and  did  not  our  God  bring  all  this 
evil  upon  us,  and  upon  this  city  ?  yet  ye  bring 
more  wrath  upon  Israel  by  profaning  the  Sab- 
bath." It  is  an  important  question,  why  so 
great  prominence  is  given  to  the  profanation 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OP    THE    SABBATH.      57 

of  the  Sabbatli,  as  causing  those  judgments 
whicli  the  Jewish  church  and  nation  suffered  ? 
Manifestly  it  is  because  Sabbath-breaking  is  a 
great  sin,  and  because  it  results  in  the  preva- 
lence of  all  kinds  of  wickedness. 

It  is,  then,  most  evident  that  those  periods 
when  the  Sabbath  was  held  most  sacred,  were 
periods  when  the  standard  of  piety  and  morals 
was  most  elevated.  There  is,  therefore,  an  in- 
separable connection  between  the  strict  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath  and  the  growth  of 
piety. 

3.  There  were  periods  when  there  prevailed 
a  superstitious  observance  of  the  Sabbath ; 
and  these  were  periods  when  zeal  for  external 
observances  had  been  substituted  for  enlis^ht- 
ened  piety.  When  vital  piety  declines  amongst 
any  people,  one  of  three  results  unifoi'mly  fol- 
lows, viz :  some  phase  of  gross  error  is  em- 
braced, or  divine  institutions  are  neglected,  or 
a  fanatical  zeal  for  the  forms  of  religion  pre- 
vails, in  the  proportion  that  the  power  of  re- 
ligion is  lost.  This  last  was  the  phase  of  relig- 
ion amongst  the  Jews  at  the  advent  of  Christ, 
3^ 


58      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

and  daring  several  preceding  ages.  So  strict 
were  they  at  tliat  period,  that  tliey  would  not 
even  defend  themselves  when  attacked  on 
the  Sal>l)ath  by  their  enemies.  Their  suffer- 
ings soon  corrected  this  error,  and  then  the 
Sabbath  law  was  interpreted  so  as  to  allow 
them  to  defend  themselves,  though  not  to  at- 
tack their  enemies  on  the  holy  day.  Of  this 
last  scruple  Pompey,  the  Roman  general, 
availed  himself,  whilst  besiesrino;  Jerusalem. 
Desiring  to  fill  up  a  deep  ditch  on  the  north 
side  of  the  city,  where  his  forces  were  much 
exposed  to  the  assaults  of  the  Jews,  he  had  the 
work  done  on  the  Sabbath,  meanwhile  restrain- 
ing his  soldiers  from  making  attack.  "  Nor 
had  the  Komans  succeeded  in  their  endeav- 
ours," says  Josephus,  "  had  not  Pompey  taken 
notice  of  the  seventh  day,  on  which  the  Jews 
abstain  from  all  sorts  of  work,  on  a  religious 
account,  and  raised  his  bank,  but  restrained  his 
soldiers  from  fighting  on  those  days ;  for  the 
Jews  only  acted  defensively  on  Sabbath  days." 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  striking  il- 
lustration of  the  truth,  that  "  the  letter  killeth." 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      59 

It  was  in  this  blind  zeal  for  the  letter,  and 
in  utter  ignorance  of  the  spirit  of  the  law, 
that  the  Pharisees  accused  the  disciples  of  our 
Lord  of  profaning  the  Sabbath,  because,  whilst 
passing  through  the  cornfields,  they  began  to 
pluck  the  ears  of  corn.  This  accusation  led  to 
the  declaration  in  the  text,  ''  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath  ;' 
and  the  further  declaration,  "  Therefore,  the 
Son  of  Man  is  Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath." 
The  same  fanatical  zeal,  in  its  most  intense  de- 
gree, induced  a  ruler  of  the  synagogue  to  con- 
demn him  even  for  healing  the  sick  on  the 
Sabbath.  "  There  are  six  days,"  said  he,  '^  in 
which  men  ought  to  work  ;  in  these,  therefore, 
come  and  be  healed,  and  not  on  the  Sabbath- 
day."  His  cutting  reply  put  his  accuser  to 
shame,  "  Thou  hypocrite,  doth  not  each  of  you 
on  the  Sabbath  loose  his  ox,  or  his  ass,  from 
the  stall,  and  lead  him  away  to  watering  ? 
And  ought  not  this  woman,  being  a  daughter 
of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  hath  bound,  lo, 
these  eighteen  years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond 
on  the    Sabbath-day?"      (Luke  xiii.   11-17.) 


60      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

Pie  explained  the  law  on  another  occasion 
thus :  "  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  well  on 
the  Sabbath-day."  (Matt.  xii.  12.)  The  com- 
mand to  remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it 
holy,  was  never  designed  to  forbid  the  per- 
formance of  works  of  necessity  and  of  mercy. 
There  is  a  wide  difference  between  taking  de- 
light in  the  duties  and  privileges  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  making  a  merit  of  the  rigid  exter- 
nal observance  of  it.  This  last  was  the  error 
of  the  Jews  at  the  period  of  which  we  are 
speaking.  It  was  the  same  error  which  led 
them  scrupulously  to  tithe  mint,  annise,  and 
cummin,  whilst  regardless  of  the  w^eightier 
matters  of  the  law  ;  to  wash  their  hands  when 
they  came  from  the  market,  whilst  indulging 
in  gross  immorality. 

The  history  of  the  Sabbath,  from  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ  to  the  present  time,  exhibits 
the  following  j)hases  : 

1.  A  change  of  the  day  to  be  observed,  from 
the  last  day  of  the  week  to  the  first.  There 
is  on  record  no  express  command  authorizing 
this  change ;  but  the  example  of  the  apostles 


OKIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      61 

and  primitive  Christians  is  conclusive  on  tlie 
subject.  For  it  is  certain  that  after  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  they  observed  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  instead  of  the  seventh.  Paul 
abode  at  Troas  seven  days;  "and  upon  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came 
together  to  break  bread,  Paul  preached  unto 
them,  ready  to  depart  on  the  morrow."  (Acts 
XX.  7.)  The  literal  rendering  would  be,  "«9;^ 
one  of  the  Sabbaths ;  "  and  this  is  the  precise 
phraseology  used  by  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke, 
and  John,  to  signify  the  day  on  which  our 
Lord  rose  from  the  dead.  On  this  passage  Dr. 
J.  A.  Alexander  remarks,  "  In  the  case  before 
us,  it  is  not  a  simple  date  or  chronological  spec- 
ification of  the  day  on  which  the  meeting  hap- 
pened to  be  held  ;  for  such  a  circumstance  was 
too  minute  to  be  recorded  for  its  own  sake,  and 
is  never  given  elsewhere.  The  only  satisfac- 
tory solution  is,  that  the  observance  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week  as  that  of  our  Lord's  resur- 
rection, had  already  become  customary,  so  that 
the  assembling  of  the  church  at  that  time  for 
the  purpose  here  mentioned,  was  a  matter  of 


G2      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

course,  with  or  without  special  notice  or  ar- 
rangement." The  purpose  for  which  they  were 
assembled,  viz,  to  break  bread,  that  is,  to  ad- 
minister and  receive  the  Lord's  supper,  is  con- 
firmatory of  the  opinion,  that  the  first  day  of 
the  week  had  become  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

Paul's  directions  to  the  church  at  Corinth, 
respecting  the  collection  for  the  saints,  leads  to 
the  same  conclusion.  "  Upon  the  first  day  of 
the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in 
store,  as  the  Lord  hath  prospered  him,  that 
there  be  no  gatherings  when  I  come."  (1  Cor. 
xvi.  1,  2.)  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  any 
other  reason  for  specifying  the  first  day  of  the 
w^eek  for  such  a  purpose,  except  that  it  was 
the  day  appointed  for  public  worship. 

The  chano:e  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  last  to 
the  first  day  of  the  w^ek,  is  still  further  con- 
firmed by  the  language  of  the  apostle  John, 
I'especting  the  time  when  the  wonderful  reve- 
lations of  the  Apocalypse  were  made  to  him. 
"  I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,  and 
heard  behind  me  a  great  voice  as  of  a  trum- 
pet."   (Eev.  i.  10.)    By  the  Lord's  day,  as  the 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF   THE    SABBATH.      63 

commentator  Scott  well  remarks,  "can  l)e  meant 
no  other  than  the  clay  on  which  the  Lord  Je- 
sus I'ose  from  the  dead — even  the  first  day  of 
the  week :  and  it  is  a  conclusive  proof,  that 
the  first  day  was  set  apart  and  ke|)t  holy  by 
the  primitive  Christians,  in  commemoration  of 
that  great  event."  No  other  day  has  ever  Ijeen 
known  to  the  church  as  the  "Lord's  day ; "  and 
the  fact  that  our  Lord  chose  this  day  to  make 
to  his  servant  John  those  marvellous  revela- 
tions, shows  the  honour  he  put  upon  it.  We 
have,  then,  divine  authority  for  the  change  of 
the  day  which  shall  be  observed  as  the  Sab- 
bath ;  but  we  have  no  intimation  that  there 
was  to  be  any  other  change  in  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath. 

This  change  of  the  day  has  the  advantage 
of  commemoratinsf  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 

O  7 

and  the  completion  of  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion, whilst  it  answers  all  the  purposes  which 
were  accomplished  by  the  keeping  of  the  last 
day  of  the  week.  The  Sabbath  still  occurs  on 
every  seventh  day,  thus  reminding  men  that 
in  six  days  God  created  the  heavens  and  the 


64      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

earth,  and  rested  on  the  seventh,  and  impres- 
sing upon  them  their  obligations  to  their  Crea- 
toi'.  But  it  occurs  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  thus  reminding  us  that  the  Son  of  God 
died  for  our  sins,  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
third  day  rose  for  our  justification.  And  so, 
by  the  observance  of  every  seventh  day,  and 
that  the  first  day  of  the  week,  as  the  holy 
Sabbath,  the  two  great  events  in  the  history 
of  our  world  are  constantly  brought  to  view, 
namely,  its  creation,  and  its  redemj^tion ;  and 
at  the  same  time  the  minds  of  men  are  turned 
both  to  the  law  of  God,  and  to  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  For  by  creation,  man  was  placed  un- 
der the  perfect  law  of  God,  "  holy,  just,  and 
good ;"  and  by  redemption  he  is  placed  under 
"  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation." 

And  might  it  not  reasonably  have  been  ex- 
pected, that  the  completion  of  the  work  of 
redemption  would  be  celebrated  by  a  Sabbath, 
since  it  is  a  greater  work  than  that  of  creation, 
and  more  exalts  the  glory  of  God  ?  The  work 
of  creation  was  a  means ;  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion is  the  glorious  end.     This  world  was  ere- 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      G5 

atecl,  that  it  might  be  the  theatre  on  which 
God  would  display  the  glories  of  his  grace,  T)y 
the  redemption  of  the  church  of  Christ.  Dr. 
Dwight  was  right,  therefore,  in  supposing  tliat 
in  the  following  sublime  prophecy,  it  was  in- 
tended to  be  understood  that  the  work  of  re- 
demption should,. so  to  speak,  eclipse  the  work 
of  creation ;  and  that  the  Sabbath  should 
commemorate  tlie  former,  rather  than  the  lat- 
ter :  "  For  behold,  1  create  new  heavens  and  a 
new  earth,  and  the  former  shall  not  be  remem- 
bered, nor  come  into  mind.  But  be  ye  glad, 
and  rejoice  forever  in  that  w^hicli  I  create : 
for,  behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and 
her  people  a  joy."     (Isaiah  Ixv.  17,  18.) 

2.  The  history  of  the  Sabbath,  from  the  in- 
troduction of  the  New  Dispensation  to  the 
present  time,  embraces  three  periods,  each  pre- 
senting its  own  peculiar  phases. 

1.  The  first  period  embraces  the  three  first 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  During  this 
period,  the  Sabbath  was  observed  with  a  good 
degree  of  strictness,  as  a  day  of  religious  in- 
struction  and  worship.     One  is  surprised,   in 


66      ORIGIN    AXD    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

reading  our  ecclesiastical  histories,  to  observe 
how  little  attention  this  vital  sul)ject  has  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  the  writers.  Rev. 
James  Gilfellan  has  gathered  up  abundant  tes- 
timonies from  the  Christian  fathers  on  this  sub- 
ject. Those  who  are  interested  in  the  history 
of  the  Sabbath,  would  do  well  to  consult  his 
work.  The  early  Christians,  he  informs  us, 
called  the  Sabbath  "  the  first  of  days,  the  chief 
of  days,  a  day  of  gladness.  They  honoured  it 
by  standing  in  prayer,  and  by  not  fasting. 
They  rose  early,  and  sat  late,  that  they  might 
redeem  their  holy  time." 

2.  With  the  growing  corruption  of  religion, 
between  the  third  and  sixteenth  centuries,  the 
Sabbath  came  gradually  to  be  associated  with 
the  saints'  days,  and  was  degraded,  as  now  in 
countries  where  Komanism  prevails,  to  a  holiday 
— a  day,  after  the  morning  religious  service,  of 
frolic  and  dissipation.  No  one  would  expect  to 
lind,  during  the  dark  ages,  the  scriptural  observ- 
ance of  the  Lord's  day.  Yet,  wherever  the 
gospel  was  preached  in  its  purity,  there  the 
Sabbath   was   strictly  observed.      Louis  XII, 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      67 

King  of  France,  sent  men  to  inquire  respecting 
the  truth  of  the  accusations  against  the  Wal- 
denses  of  Provence,  who  reported,  amongst 
other  things,  that  they  carefully  observed  tlie 
Sabbath. 

3.  Unhappily  for  the  cause  of  religion,  the 
reformers,  Luther  and  Calvin,  seem  not  to 
have  admitted  the  identity  of  the  Lord's  day 
with  the  original  Sabbath,  and  to  have  ob- 
served the  former  ratlier  as  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity, or  expediency,  than  as  divinely  command- 
ed. Calvin  says,  "  ISFow  whereas  it  was  expe- 
dient for  the  destruction  of  superstition,  that 
the  day  which  the  Jews  kept  holy  was  abol- 
ished ;  and  it  being  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  decorum,  order,  and  peace,  in  the  Chris- 
tian church,  another  day  was  appointed  for  the 
same  use  ;"  and  so  important  did  he  regard  the 
religious  observance  of  the  Lord's  day,  that  he 
said  "  if  it  were  abolished,  the  church  would  be 
in  imminent  danger  of  immediate  convul- 
sion and  ruin.  The  ancients,"  he  adds,  "  have 
not  without  sufficient  reason  substituted 
what   we    call   the   Lord's    day,  in    tlie  room 


68      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

of  the  Sabbath.  For  since  tlie  resiirrec- 
tion  of  the  Lord  is  the  end  and  consum- 
mation of  that  true  rest,  which  was  adum- 
brated by  the  ancient  Sabbath  ;  the  same 
day  which  put  an  end  to  the  shadoAVS,  admon- 
ishes Christians  not  to  adhere  to  a  shadowy 
ceremony.  Yet  I  do  not  lay  so  much  stress  on 
the  septenary  numbei',  that  I  would  oblige  the 
church  to  an  invariable  adherence  to  it." 
These  lax  and  unscriptural  views  of  tlie  Sab- 
bath, go  far  toward  accounting  for  the  sad  de- 
cay of  vital  piety  on  the  Continent.  For  it  is 
vain  to  hope  for  any  profitable  observance  of 
the  Lord's  day,  if  it  be  admitted  that  its  ap- 
pointment is  not  of  divine  authority. 

4.  In  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
more  Scriptural  views  of  the  Sabbath  have 
prevailed  ;  and  the  effects  are  visible  in  the 
higher  standard  of  vital  piety  in  the  churches, 
and  of  morals  amongst  the  people.  The  con- 
troversy on  this  subject  which,  from  time  to 
time,  prevailed  in  England,  is  interesting  and 
instructive.  Through  the  entire  history  of  it, 
there  will  be  found  to  have  been  a  most  inti- 


ORIGIX    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      69 

mate  connection  between  the  standard  piety  in 
tlie  churclies,  and  their  appreciation  of  tlic 
Sabhath,  as  a  day  divinely  appointed  to  be 
kept  holy ;  and  a  connection  no  less  intimate 
between  a  public  regard  for  the  fourth  com- 
mandment, and  for  the  other  nine  command- 
ments of  the  Decalogue.  For  example,  it  was 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  I,  that,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Archbishop  Laud,  the  King  repub- 
lished the  Declaration  of  James  I,  "  concern- 
ing lawful  sports  to  be  used  on  Sundays  after 
divine  service."  At  that  time,  "  the  court  had 
their  balls,  masquerades,  and  plays,  on  the  Sun- 
day evenings,  while  the  youth  of  the  country 
were  at  their  morrice-dances,  May-games, 
church  and  clerk  ales,  and  all  such  kinds  of 
revellins:." — Neal.  No  careful  reader  of  Eni^- 
lish  history  needs  to  be  told  what  was  the 
standard  of  piety  in  the  established  church, 
when  conscientious  ministers  were  suspended 
from  the  functions  of  their  office,  for  refusing 
to  read  in  their  churches  the  King's  proclama- 
tion in  favour  of  the  profanation  of  the  Sab- 
bath ;   nor    can  we   wonder   at   the    civil    dis- 


70      ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

orders   which    soon    followed    this    state    of 
thin  GTS. 

o 

5.  From  the  days  of  Constantiue  to  the 
present  time,  the  civil  authorities  in  Christian 
nations  have  regarded  the  Sabbath  as  import- 
ant as  a  civil  institution,  and  have  enacted  laws 
for  its  protection.  The  civil  legislation  has 
very  generally  been  but  the  exj^ression  of  the 
public  sentiment  of  the  churches  and  the  peo- 
ple. Conseo^uently,  in  those  ages  when,  and  in 
those  countries  where  the  gospel  has  been 
preached  in  greatest  purity,  and  the  standard 
of  morals  has  been  highest,  the  civil  legislation 
has  afforded  the  highest  degree  of  protection 
to  the  Sabbath.  In  no  nations  on  the  earth, 
has  the  Sabbath  been  so  generally  observed 
and  protected,  as  in  Gi'eat  Britain  and  the 
United  States  ;  and  in  no  others  has  the  stand- 
ard of  morals  been  so  elevated.  It  is  greatly 
to  be  lamented,  however,  that  in  this  import- 
ant department  of  morals,  our  country  has  of 
late  exhibited  a  downward  tendency  ;  and  how 
far  our  present  troubles  are  the  consequence  of 
this  deterioration,  it  may  be  difficult  to  decide. 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      71 

The  history  of  the  Sabbath  amply  justifies 
the  following  conclusions : 

1.  In  every  age,  the  connection  has  been 
most  intimate  between  sound  faith  and  ele- 
vated piety,  and  the  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  ;  and  the  connection  has  been  as  close 
between  public  morals,  and  public  respect  for 
that  holy  day.  It  would  be  impossible,  I  be- 
lieve, to  point  to  a  single  period  of  any  consid- 
erable length,  that  can  be  justly  regarded  as 
forming  an  exception  to  the  general  statement. 
And  if  this  be  true,  then  it  is  a  truth  which 
ought  to  be  deeply  impressed  on  the  mind  of 
every  Christian,  and  of  every  patriot ;  for  it 
demonstrates  the  importance  of  the  Sabbath 
to  all  the  dearest  interests  of  the  human  race. 

2.  Whenever  and  wherever  the  Sabbath, 
instead  of  being  kept  holy,  has  become  a  holi- 
day, it  has  become  a  source  of  dissipation  and 
corruption.  It  is  a  universal  rule,  that  the 
more  important  and  valuable  any  institution  is, 
the  greater  the  evils  of  its  perversion.  We 
have  only  to  go  to  Spain,  Mexico,  and  South 
America,  to  see  the  effect  of  such  a  perver- 


72      ORKJIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

siou  of  the  Sabbatli  upon  public  morals.  Af- 
ter morning  service,  the  masses  of  the  people 
resort  to  the  bull-fight,  the  cock-pit,  the  thea- 
tre, and  the  like ;  and  no  day  in  the  week  is 
so  fi'uitful  of  vice.  If,  then,  we  would  not 
have  the  Sabbatli  become  a  curse,  let  us  insist 
upon  the  strict  observance  of  tlie  entire  day. 
Better  that  it  should  be  a  day  of  secular  la- 
bour, than  of  frolic  and  dissipation. 

3.  The  two  classes  of  men  who  have  op- 
posed the  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  have  opposed  the  protection  of  it  by  civil 
legislation,  have  been  errorists  who,  rejecting 
the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
have  thus  undermined  its  morals,  and  irrelig- 
ious men.  Some,  indeed,  there  have  been, 
Avhose  published  creeds  were  not  fundamental- 
ly unsound,  who  have  trampled  ujDon  the  Sab- 
bath, but  they  have  been  men  whose  lives 
demonstrated  how  little  regard  they  had  for 
the  doctrines  they  had  not  publicly  renounced. 
As  a  general  rule,  it  is  true,  that  the  worst  men 
have  ever  been  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Sab- 
bath ;  the  best  men,  its  most  earnest  defenders. 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF    THE    SABBATH.      73 

4.  Neither  the  church  of  Christ,  nor  any 
nation,  can  spare  the  Sabbath.  The  lan- 
guage of  Calvin  is  not  too  strong,  when  he 
says,  that  without  it  "  the  church  would  be  in 
imminent  dano^er  of  immediate  convulsion  and 
ruin."  And  if  the  Church  cannot  live  without 
the  Sabbath,  neither  could  any  free  nation  sur- 
vive its  overthrow.  We  must  have  the  Sab- 
bath, or  we  must  have  despotism  or  anarchy. 


THE 

AUTHORITY  AND  PERPETUITY 


OF   THE 


BY  THE 

KEY.  ■\YILLIAM  HAGUE,  D.  D. 

PA8T0E  OF  BAPTIST  CUtmcn,  MADISOX-AVENTTE. 


M  0f  tto 


"  THE   SABBATH   WAS   MADE   FOR   MAN." — Mark  U.  27. 

This  testimony  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  sets 
the  seal  of  our  Messiah's  sanction  upon  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  divine  institu- 
tion. He  declares  that  it  "  was  made  ; "  that 
it  was  made,  not  for  a  particular  nation,  but 
"  for  man ;"  appointed  by  the  authority  of 
God  to  meet  the  needs  of  universal  humanity. 

What  our  Lord  thus  declares  to  have  been 
made  for  man,  He  did  not  design  in  any  way 
to  unmake  or  impair.  He  proclaimed  himself 
the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  and  stood  forth  its  ap- 
pointed guardian  and  vindicator,  rescuing  it 
alike  from  the  desecrations  of  impiety  and 
the  perversions  of  time-honoured  superstition. 
When  He  uttered  this  remarkable  saying 
which  I  have  here  repeated.  He  was  addressing 
an  audience  who  had  been  taught  by  rabbin- 


78  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

ical  traditions  to  "  make  void"  the  original  law 
by  useless  exactions ;  to  regard  the  roerely  rit- 
ual observance  of  the  day,  as  a  "  chief  end"  to 
which  every  spiritual  interest  was  to  be  subor- 
dinated. Even  "  works  of  necessity  and  mercy" 
were  rigidly  avoided,  and  the  miracles  of 
Jesus  were  placed  upon  a  level  with  those 
needless  labours  that  were  prompted  by  law- 
less greed. 

As  on  that  sacred  day,  for  instance.  He  al- 
lowed his  disciples  to  pluck  some  ears  of  corn, 
in  order  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hunger, 
they  accused  Him  of  profaning  the  Sabbath ; 
when  He  healed  a  poor  cripple  by  the  power 
of  his  word,  and  bade  the  man  to  bear  away 
the  bed,  or  mat,  on  which  he  lay,  they  cap- 
tiously pronounced  him  a  contemner  of  the 
law  of  Moses. 

In  answer  to  accusations  like  these,  Jesus  set 
forth  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  in  its  enduring 
relations,  and  its  proper  dignity,  as  a  means  to 
a  great  moral  and  religious  end.  He  declared 
that  "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man ;"  it  was 
ordained  originally  by  Him  who  made  man, 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  79 

wlio  knew  man's  nature  and  wants,  who  had 
respect  to  his  physical  and  spiritual  welfare 
throughout  the  whole  range  of  his  being, 
whether  he  be  regarded  as  a  creature  of  time, 
or  as  an  heir  of  immortality. 

The  phraseology  which  our  Lord  has  here 
employed,  brings  the  Sabbath  into  view, 
not  only  as  a  boon  conferred  upon  man  for  his 
OAvn  benefit,  seeking  his  acceptance  on  account 
of  its  good  effects,  but  also  in  the  light 
of  a  divinely-set  observance  obligatory  on  the 
conscience.  It  dignifies  the  Sabbath  as  an 
institution,  not  designed  for  the  Jews  alone, 
but  for  man  universally ;  as  an  institution 
demanded  by  the  permanent  needs  of  our  com- 
mon nature,  and  revealed  to  us  in  the  form  of 
a  LAW,  emanating  from  the  Supreme  Kuler 
of  the  universe. 

It  is  evident,  at  a  glance,  that  an  institution, 
having  so  good  an  aim,  whose  existence,  (as 
has  been  shown  in  a  previous  lecture,)  can 
be  traced  back  to  the  early  twilight  of  human 
history,  must  be  in  many  ways  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  fortunes  of  our  race 


80  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

Aided  by  the  light  of  these  2:)reliminaiy 
views,  we  are  the  better  prepared  for  the 
consideration  of  these  two  connected  propo- 
sitions. 

I.  The  Sabbatical  law  is  a  divine  law,  of 
perpetual  and  universal  obligation. 

II.  The  foundations  upon  which  this  law 
rests,  are  deejDly  and  permanently  laid  in  the 
constitution  and  course  of  Nature. 

In  setting  forth  the  grounds  of  this  first 
statement,  we  observe,  first  of  all,  that  the  law 
of  the  Sabbath  is  recorded  in  the  Fourth 
Commandment  of  the  decalogue.  Its  position 
there  is  significant  of  a  great  principle.  It 
was  not  placed  by  Moses  in  the  ceremonial 
code  of  transient  rites,  but  was  engi'aven 
by  the  power  of  God  upon  the  tables  of  stone, 
as  an  expression  of  its  perpetuity.  Thus  it 
was  made,  by  supreme  authority,  to  take  rank 
at  once  with  those  divine  enactments,  that 
men  were  taught  to  regard  as  universally  ob- 
ligatory and  "  enduring  forever." 

What,  then,  we  naturally  ask,  in  this  con- 
nection, is   the  meaning,  what   the  scope,   of 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  81 

that  chief  requirement  which,  distinguishes  the 
Fourth  Commandment  ? 

It  is  this :  that  a  seventh  portion  of  time 
shall  be  hallowed;  that  is,  set  aj)art,  conse- 
crated to  the  worship  of  God. 

The  Fourth  Commandment,  let  it  be  ob- 
served, is  particularly  remarkable  on  account 
of  its  generic  character,  by  which  it  was  made 
susceptible  of  adjustment  to  the  demands  of 
the  Mosaic  and  the  Christian  dispensations  of  re- 
ligion. It  does  not  ^:^  the  Sabbath  on  a  set 
day  of  the  week,  as  determined  by  this  or  that 
system  of  chronology,  or  mode  of  reckoning ; 
it  marks  out  relative^  not  absolute  time.  It 
says  to  us,  "Six  days  shalt  thou  labour — the 
seventh  is  the  Sabbath." 

After  six  days  of  toil  comes  the  day  of  rest : 
this  is  the  law.  But  the  Sabbath  law  itself 
does  not  designate  the  eka  from  which  the 
reckoning  of  the  week  shall  commence ;  it 
leaves  that  to  be  learned  from  other  sources  of 
information.  This  structure  of  its  2:>hraseology 
was  not  accidental,  but  was  designed,  as  the 
history  of  the  Sabbath  indicates,  to  impart  to 


82  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

the  law  a  susceptibility  of  adaptation  to  tlie 
new  as  well  as  to  tlie  old  economy. 

Let  lis  look  at  tliis  position  a  little  more 
closely. 

The  commandments  given  by  Moses  did  not 
originate  a  new  institution.  It  pointed  to  tlie 
past.  Its  first  announcement  is,  "  Remember 
the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy."  It  received 
the  Sabbath  as  a  legacy  of  patriarchal  times, 
invested  it  with  new  sanctions,  established  its 
observance  upon  new  foundations. 

Its  relation  to  the  Mosaic  code  was  some- 
what analogous  to  that  which  our  Lord  pointed 
out,  in  reg-ard  to  the  Abrahamic  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision,  when  He  said  to  the  Jews,  (John 
vii.  22,  23,)  ''Moses  gave  unto  you  circumcis- 
ion; not  because  it  is  of  Moses,  but  of  the 
Fathers  ;  and  ye,  on  the  Sabbath  day,  circum- 
cise a  man,  that  the  Law  of  Moses  should  not 
be  broken ;"  we  see,  therefore,  that  the  Jewish 
Lawgiver  received  this  institute  from  the  patri- 
archal age,  and  made  the  command,  for  its  per- 
petual observance,  a  part  of  the  religious  sys- 
tem that  he  established. 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  83 

It  was  thus  in  relation  to  tlie  Sabbath  which 
was  instituted  in  paradise  ;  was  coeval  with 
man's  creation,  was  set  apart  for  him  and  hal- 
lowed by  him  while  in  a  state  of  innocence ; 
after  the  fall,  became  the  set  token  of  a  cove- 
nant of  mercy  between  him  and  his  Creator ; 
and  then,  in  due  time,  by  the  divine  legation 
of  Moses,  was  established  anew  as  an  ordinance 
of  heaven  to  be  observed  on  earth  throughout 
all  generations. 

And  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that,  in  accord- 
ance with  this  view,  the  history  of  the  Sabbath 
furnishes  an  array  of  corroborative  facts. 

The  regular  observance  of  religious  worship 
in  the  family  of  Adam,  the  custom  of  offering 
sacrifices  at  certain  periods,  designated  "the 
end  of  the  days ;"  the  reckoning  of  time  by 
WEEKS  throughout  the  patriarchal  age;  the 
idea  of  sacredness  universally  associated  with 
the  number  seven^  the  radical  sense  of  the  He- 
brew term  indicating  that  number  as  expres- 
sive oi  fullness  and  sufficiency,  and  the  devout 
regard  which  was  paid  to  the  seventh  day  by 
the  ancient  Phoenicians,  Egyptians,  Assyrians, 


84:  THE  AUTHORITY  AND  PERPETUITY 

Chinese,  Arabs,  by  tlie  Braliniins  of  India, 
and  the  Druids  of  Britain,  by  the  majority  of 
Gentile  nations,  whether  civilized  or  bar- 
barians, present  a  combination  of  facts  which 
we  can  not  adequately  explain,  except  by  as- 
signing to  the  narrative  of  Moses  that  j)lain 
and  simple  sense  that  we  have  here  set  forth, 
and  which  traces  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath 
to  the  land  of  Eden,  to  the  era  of  man's 
creation. 

In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  remem- 
brance, that  the  celebrated  Laj)lace,  in  his  Ex- 
position of  the  System  of  the  World,  speaking 
of  the  week  as  an  admeasurement  of  time, 
whose  "  origin  is  lost  in  the  most  remote  antiqui- 
ty," adds  the  remark  that "  it  circulates  through 
ages,  mixing  itself  with  the  kalendars  of  dif- 
ferent races.  The  week  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
ancient  and  incontestible  monument  of  human 
knowledge  ;  it  appears  to  point  out  a  common 
source  whence  that  knowledge  proceeded."* 

Assured  that  this  plain  interpretation  of  the 


♦CEuvresde  Laplace,  tome  sexieme,  Paris  1840,  Exposition  du  Sjs- 
teme  du  Monde,  page  20,  livre  premier.    Quoted  by  Bayjee,  p.  22. 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  85 

testimony  of  Moses  is  sustained  by  ample 
proofs,  let  us  pursue  our  inquiry  as  to  the  sense 
and  scope  of  the  Fourth  Commandment  of  the 
Decalogue. 

We  have  said  that  the  terms  of  the  law  set 
the  day  for  observing  the  Sabbath  but  rel- 
atively /  determining  only  the  proportion  of 
time  to  be  consecrated  to  the  purposes  of 
worship. 

Now,  at  this  point,  let  it  be  observed  that 
the  Mosaic  narrative  of  the  giving  of  the  law, 
unfolds  one  great  principle  which  shines  forth 
as  a  guiding  light  over  the  whole  course  of  our 
investigation :  that  is,  tlie  capacity  of  the  orig- 
inal Sabbatical  institution  to  adjust  itself  to  the 
changing  conditions  of  our  race  in  successive 
epochs. 

That  principle  is  disclosed  by  a  comparison 
of  the  difterent  objects  of  commemoration, 
which  were  announced  to  the  Israelites  by  the 
first  and  second  promulgations  of  the  Dec- 
alogue. The  first  promulgation  of  the  Fourth 
Commandment  is  recorded  in  the  twentieth 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  Exodus  ;  and  there  the 


8()  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

Sabbatli  is  represented  as  being  commemora- 
tive simjDly  of  the  work  of  creation.  It  expresses 
tlie  one  fundamental  idea,  whicli  distinguislies 
revealed  religion  from  all  the  Pagan  systems  of 
Nature-worsliij) ;  that  is  the  idea  of  God  as 
Creator.  The  second  pomulgation  of  the  law 
is  recorded  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  Deuter- 
onomy ;  and  there  the  work  of  creation  is  not 
mentioned ;  but  the  national  emancipation 
from  the  bondage  of  Egypt  is  put  forth  as  the 
object  of  commemoration,  and  as  the  immedi- 
ate reason  for  hallowing  the  Sabbath.  Who 
does  not  see  in  this  change  of  the  form  of  the 
law,  under  the  old  dispensation,  the  important 
principle  of  which  we  speak  clearly  brought  to 
light  ?  Who  does  not  see  here  an  apt  and 
beautiful  illustration  of  our  Saviour's  teaching, 
that  "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man ;"  the 
unfolding  of  God's  original  design  to  found  an 
institution,  that  should  be  susceptible  of  ad- 
justment to  all  the  moral  exigencies  of  man- 
kind throughout  the  revolutions  of  the  ages  ? 

And  if,  as  is  thus  evident,  the  redemption  of 
Israel  from  Egyptian  bondage  formed  an  liistor- 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  87 

ical  era^  whicli  was  brought  within  the  scope 
of  the  Sabbatical  law  by  an  authorized  annexa- 
tion ;  if  that  leading  event  of  the  time  called 
forth  new  associations  of  religious  ideas  that 
were  made  to  cluster  around  the  ancient  insti- 
tute, then,  surely,  there  was  furnished  a  ground 
of  ex])ectation  that,  when  the  greater  redemp- 
tion wrought  by  the  predicted  Messiah  should 
have  been  accomplished,  tliis^  too,  would  be 
taken  into  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath-law,  and 
would  be  held  forth  before  the  world  as  an 
epoch  of  Sabbatical  commemoration  by  "the 
generations  to  come." 

And  here  let  it  be  observed  in  passing,  that 
for  us  to  say,  as  some  have  said,  that  the  sec- 
ond enactment  here  referred  to,  making  the 
emancipation  from  Egyptian  bondage  an  object 
of  Sabbatical  commemoration,  places  the  Sab- 
bath itself  on  a  level  with  institutes  that  were 
merely  national,  local,  and  temporary,  would 
be  adopting  a  view  that  overlooks  or  forgets  a 
grand,  leading  feature  of  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion of  religion,  namely,  its  subordination  as  a 
chosen  means  to  the  uplifting  and  renovation 


88  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

of  universal  humanity,  "in  the  fullness  of 
time."  For  the  chief  promise  of  the  Abra- 
hamic  covenant,  was  the  promise  of  a  Messiah 
for  all  the  nations  and  families  of  the  earth ; 
and  nothing  in  that  nation's  history  had  any 
permanent  worth,  except  in  its  ministry,  to 
that  comprehensive  design. 

A  recognition  of  this  truth  pervades  all  the 
psalms  and  prophecies,  imparts  to  them  an  un- 
quenchable vitality,  and  renders  them  the 
treasured  heritage  of  the  world  forever.  This 
is  the  living  fire  that  glows  in  the  poetry 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  flames  in  all  those 
significant  quotations  which  irradiate  the  pages 
of  the  gospel.  On  this  account,  every  defeat 
of  Israel  was  bewailed  as  a  calamity  to  man- 
kind, and  every  \dctory  was  celebrated  as  a 
triumph  for  the  cause  of  the  human  race  for  all 
ages ;  like  those,  for  instance,  immortalized  in 
the  strains  of  the  forty-ninth  and  sixty-sixth 
psalms,  that  send  abroad  an  appeal  to  the  sym- 
pathies of  every  human  being  in  the  world, 
"  O  clap  your  hands  all  ye  peoples ;  make 
a  joyful  noise  unto  God  all  ye  lands  ;  make  his 


OP   THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  89 

praise  glorious ;  all  the  earth  shall  worship 
thee  and  sing  unto  thy  name."  Be  assured, 
the  exodus  of  Israel  from  Egypt  is  as  fitting  a 
theme  of  praise  for  us,  and  will  be  for  all  that 
shall  come  after  us,  as  it  was  for  those  minstrels 
who  joined  Miriam  to*  chant  the  triumphal  an- 
them over  Pharaoh  and  his  hosts,  when  they 
sank  like  lead  in  the  deeps  of  the  Red  Sea. 

From  these  views  of  the  Sabbath  law,  sug- 
gested by  the  Old  Testament,  we  derive  an  ad- 
equate reason  for  that  arrangement,  which 
ranks  the  Fourth  Commandment  with  moral 
precepts  that  bear  upon  them  the  impress 
of  permanence  and  universality. 

Surely  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  He,  who 
assigned  to  it  the  place  which  it  occupies 
on  the  table  of  stone,  failed  to  recognize  the 
proper  distinction  between  the  positive  and 
the  moral,  between  the  transient  and  the  per- 
manent, in  the  realm  of  religion.  With  an 
emphasis  of  meaning  is  this  distinction  marked 
in  the  statement  of  Moses  touching  the  Deca- 
logue :  (Deut.  V.  22.)  "  These  words  the  Lord 
spake  unto  all  your  assembly  in  the  mount. 


90  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud  and 
of  the  thick  darkness,  with  a  great  voice : 
and  He  added  no  more :  and  He  wrote  them 
in  two  tables  of  stones  and  delivered  them  un- 
to me."  Could  He  have  written  in  the  endur- 
ing Decalogue,  by  a  sort  of  inadvertence, 
a  precej^t  pertaining  to  the  ceremonial  code 
of  Jewish  worship  ?  ]^o.  Although  the  obli- 
gation to  observe  the  Sabbath  as  a  perj)etual 
law,  might  not  be  discerned  at  once  by  intui- 
tion, or  unaided  reason,  like  the  obligation 
of  veracity,  or  honesty,  yet  the  all-wise  Law- 
giver founded  the  Sabbatical  institution  upon 
those  broad,  deej),  immutable  princij^les  which 
are  peculiar  to  no  age  or  clime,  which  no  jDro- 
gress  of  humanity  can  ever  render  obsolete,  but 
which  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  moral  order, 
and  are  essential  elements  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  universe. 

But  now,  in  this  connection,  to  the  view 
of  many  an  inquirer,  an  important  question 
will  present  itself.  If  it  be  true  that  the  Sab- 
batical law  takes  rank  with  moral  precepts  of 
perpetual  obligation ;  if  the  scope  of  the  law 


OP    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  91 

was  modified  under  tlie  old  disj^ensation,  so  as 
to  adjust  it  to  tlie  progressive  needs  of  the 
people  ;  and  if  tlie  Fourtli  Commandment  de- 
termine not  absolute  time,  but  only  the  projyor- 
tion  of  time  to  be  set  apart  for  the  Sabbath 
observance,  by  what  method  shall  we,  who  live 
under  the  Christian  dispensation,  under  the 
reign  of  the  Messiah,  ascertain  the  day  of 
the  week  whereon  the  Sabbath  should  be 
kept? 

The  true  answer  is  devious.  The  method  is 
the  same  for  us  as  it  was  for  ancient  Israel : 
namely,  to  observe  the  indications  which  God 
has  given  us  in  his  Word,  as  to  his  will  relating 
to  the  era  from  which  our  reckoning  of  Sabbat- 
ical days  should  be  commenced. 

For  us,  who  live  in  the  nineteenth  century 
of  the  Christian  era,  if  any  such  indications  are 
to  be  sought,  they  must  be  sought,  of  course, 
in  the  ministry  of  the  Messiah — in  the  teach- 
ings and  precedents  of  the  New  Testament. 

And  before  directing  our  minds  to  the 
search  after  such  indications,  it  may  be  well  to 
remember  that  Messianic  prophecy,  a  thousand 


92  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

years  before  our  Lord's  advent,  held  fortli  this 
grand  idea  as  a  guiding  light  for  us  :  that  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  should  be  the  distin- 
guished era  of  subsequent  history.  It  was  an 
inspii'ed  j)roclamation,  chanted  for  centuries  in 
Hebrew  worship  :  "  The  stone  which  the  build- 
ers rejected  is  become  the  head-stone  of  the 
corner.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing  and  it  is  mar- 
vellous in  our  eyes.  This  is  the  day  which  the 
Lord  hath  made ;  we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad 
in  it." — 'Psalm  cxviii.  22-24.  These  words 
of  the  old  prophetic  chant  are  quoted  by  our 
Lord,  in  his  last  discourse  delivered  in  the 
Jewish  temple,  as  referring  directly  to  himself; 
(Matt.  xxi.  42)  and  they  are  declared,  by  the 
apostle  Peter,  (Acts  iv.  10,  11)  to  have  been 
fulfilled  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus.  These 
collated  testimonies,  then,  furnish  the  most  di- 
rect  proof  that  the  resurrection-day  was  to  be 
regarded  as  an  era  that  God  had  made  for  the 
coming  ages,  and  show  us  the  way  whereby 
the  Divine  Spirit  prepared  the  first  disciples  to 
hail  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  as  the  chief  era 
of  human  history,  to  hallow  and  honour  it  by 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  93 

bringing  it,  as  an  object  of  perpetual  remem- 
brance, witliin  tlie  scope  of  Sabbatic,  weekly- 
celebration.  Follow  out  tbis  suggestion,  I  pray 
you,  a  step  or  two,  at  least,  in  tbe  line  of 
direction  wbitber  it  leads  us. 

Mark,  first  of  all,  tbis  fact :  on  tbe  sixtb  day 
of  tbe  week  our  Lord  was  crucified.  On  the 
seventh  day  he  was  in  tbe  sepulchre.  "  The 
Shepherd  had  been  smitten — the  sheep  were 
scattered."  The  Christian  church  had  no  festi- 
val on  that  day.  It  was  a  day  of  grief  and 
gloom,  as  if  the  sun  had  been  stricken  from 
the  firmament. 

But  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  the  Messiah 
arose  from  the  dead,  the  Lord  of  a  new  spirit- 
ual creation.  The  Sun  of  Eighteousness  broke 
forth  in  celestial  splendour,  and  dispelled  the 
clouds  that  had  quenched  every  ray  of  hoj)e 
or  joy.  I^To  day  like  that  had  ever  dawned 
upon  the  world.  "  If  Christ  had  not  risen," 
his  followers  would  have  been  "of  all  men 
most  miserable,"  and  even  creation  itself  would 
not  have  called  forth  from  them  another  song 
of  thanksgiving.     That   day,   of  course,   was 


94  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

worthy  to  take  the  precedence  of  all  other 
days,  having  been  signalized  by  an  event  more 
wonderful,  more  sublime  and  momentous,  than 
any  other  recorded  in  the  annals  of  the  world's 
history. 

On  that  day  Jesus  met  his  desponding  fol- 
lowers, made  himself  known  to  them  at  differ- 
ent times  while  separated  from  each  other,  and 
then,  at  its  close,  miraculously  entered  the 
place  where  they  were  assembled.  That  was 
a  memorable  and  joyous  meeting  of  the  first 
Christian  church  under  the  reign  of  the  risen 
Messiah  ;  and  from  that  day  to  this,  the  Resur- 
rection-day has  been  hallowed  to  services 
of  social  worship,  by  the  examjDle  of  Him  who 
taught  that  "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man," 
and  that  He  was  Himself  "  the  Lord  of  the 
Sabbath." 

For,  observe  still  further,  Jesus  was  never 
seen  again  in  the  temple,  or  the  synagogue, 
never  met  with  the  Jews  again  on  tlieir  Sab- 
bath, never  by  any  known  act  distinguished 
or  noticed  the  seventh  day.  But  on  the  first 
day  of  the  following  week,  the  disciples  having 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  95 

been  gatliered  in  the  appointed  place  of  as- 
sembling, the  doors  being  shut  for  fear  of  the 
Jews,  Jesus  reappears,  stands  forth  in  the 
midst  of  them,  and  gives  them  his  benediction. 

Then  from  the  last  desponding  doubter  he 
received  the  acknowledo-ment  of  his  Messiah- 
ship,  and  of  his  supreme  authority,  in  that  de- 
vout exclamation  of  Thomas,  "  My  Lord  and 
my  God." 

From  that  day  onward,  evermore,  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  was  celebrated  weekly  by  his 
followers,  as  the  signal  event  of  the  Christian 
era  ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  first  century,  the 
last  of  the  Apostles,  in  his  message  from  the 
isle  of  Patmos,  applied  to  that  day  a  common 
and  popular  phrase,  "The  Lord's  day,"  as 
a  proper  designation.  Thus  he  set  it  forth  as 
the  day  of  which  the  Prophet  had  sung, 
of  which  the  Old  Church  had  chanted,  of 
which  Jesus  had  spoken,  "  the  day  that  the 
Lord  had  made,"  wherein  to  "  rejoice  and  be 
glad,"  fulfilling  all  the  ends  of  "  the  Sabbath 
made  for  man,"  and  sanctioned  with  authority 
by  "  the  Son  of  Man,  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath." 


96  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

And  now,  having  illustrated  our  proposition, 
relating  to  the  permanent  and  universal  obliga- 
tion of  the  Sabbath  law ;  having  availed  our- 
selves of  the  light  beaming  forth  from  that  great 
principle  unfolded  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, namely,  the  capacity  of  the  Sabbatical 
institution  to  adjust  itself  to  different  epochs, 
the  successive  dispensations  of  religion,  we  are 
prepared  to  sustain  our  second  proposition. 

The  foundations  upon  which  the  Sabbatical 
law  rests,  are  deeply  and  permanently  laid  in 
the  constitution  and  course  of  nature. 

A  clear  view  of  this  is  adapted  to  enlarge 
our  conceptions,  and  strengthen  our  convic- 
tions of  the  divine  authority,  that  invests  and 
sustains  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath. 

1.  Hence,  we  observe,  that  the  Sabbatical 
institution  is  founded  upon  permanent  princi- 
ples, pertaining  to  the  physical  constitution  of 
man. 

Why  so  ?  Let  us  see.  The  alternation  of 
day  and  night  indicates  that  the  principle  of 
BEST,  as  well  as  of  action,  is  a  part  of  that 
divinely-constituted   system   under  which   we 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  97 

live.  "  The  sun  knoweth  his  going  down," 
says  the  Psahnist ;  "  God  maketh  darkness, 
and  it  is  night." 

"  Night's  silent  reign  hath  robbed  the  world  of  light, 
To  lend  in  lieu  a  greater  benefit, 
Repose  and  sleep ;  when  every  mortal  breast, 
Whom  care  and  grief  permit,  may  take  their  rest." 

All  men  readily  apprehend  this  law  of  na- 
ture ;  yet  all  men  do  not  obey  it ;  for,  amid 
the  exciting  pursuits  of  life,  it  has  often  been 
disregarded.  This  practical  mistake  has  some- 
times been  made  by  men,  of  whom,  on  account 
of  their  general  knowledge,  it  would  have  been 
least  expected.  Signally  illustrative  of  this 
remark,  is  the  case  of  Sir  Hum]3hrey  Davy, 
who  was  suddenly  arrested  in  his  brilliant  pro- 
fessional career  by  a  nervous  disease,  which 
caused  a  long  cessation  from  those  labours 
which  were  attracting  the  attention  of  Eng- 
land. Paris,  in  his  life  of  Davy,  calls  this  "  an 
awful  pause  in  his  researches."  Davy  ascribed 
his  illness  to  contagion  caught  in  experimenting 
on  the  fumigation  of  hospitals.  On  this  his 
biographer  remarks :   "  upon  conversing  with 


98  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

Dr.  Babingtoii,  wlio,  with  Dr.  Frank,  attended 
Davy  tlirougliont  this  ilhiess,  he  assured  me 
that  there  was  not  the  slightest  ground  for 
this  opinion,  and  that  the  fever  was  evidently 
the  effect  of  fatigue  and  an  over-excited  brain." 
The  truth  was,  that  this  earnest  labourer  in  the 
cause  of  science,  borne  along  by  a  mighty  im- 
petus, had  continued  his  exertions  both  by  day 
and  night,  and,  having  violated  the  law  of 
dmrnal  rest,  was  incapable  of  averting  the 
fearful  penalty. 

A  celebrated  physician  and  writer,  Dr.  An- 
drew Combe,  of  Edinburgh,  having  cited  the 
case  of  Davy,  thus  proceeds  to  observe,  touch- 
ing this  law  of  diurnal  rest ;  "  Nervous  disease 
from  excessive  mental  labour,  and  exaltation 
of  feeling,  sometimes  shows  itself  in  another 
form.  From  neglecting  proper  intervals  of 
rest,  the  vascular  excitement  of  the  brain, 
which  always  accompanies  activity  of  mind, 
has  never  time  to  subside,  and  a  restless  irrita- 
bility of  temper  and  disposition  comes  on, 
attended  with  sleeplessness  and  anxiety,  for 
which  no  external  cause  can  be  assigned.     The 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  99 

symptoms  gradually  become  aggravated,  the 
digestive  functions  give  way,  nutrition  is  im- 
paired, and  a  sense  of  wretchedness  is  constant- 
ly present,  which  often  leads  to  attemj^jts  at 
suicide.  While  all  this  is  going  on,  however, 
the  patient  will  talk,  or  transact  business,  with 
perfect  propriety  and  accuracy,  and  no  stranger 
could  tell  that  anything  ails  him.  But  in  his 
intercourse  with  his  intimate  friends,  or  physi- 
cian, the  havoc  made  upon  the  mind  becomes 
ajDparent ;  and,  if  not  speedily  arrested,  it  soon 
terminates,  according  to  the  constitution  or 
circumstances  of  the  individual  case,  in  de- 
rangement, palsy,  apoplexy,  fever,  suicide,  or 
jDermanent  weakness." 

IN^ow,  while  it  is  evident  to  all  that  a  di- 
urnal rest  is  a  law  of  nature,  it  is  equally  true, 
though  not  so  ob^^ious  at  once  to  all,  that 
a  seventh-day  rest  is  also  a  law  of  nature,  as 
well  as  a  command  of  the  Decalogue. 

This  conclusion  rests  ujion  a  careful  induc- 
tion of  facts.  A  comparison  of  facts,  derived 
from  a  wide  field  of  observation,  has  disclosed 
to  tlie  view  of  scientific  inquirers  the  broad 


100  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

principle,  that  tlie  SaLbatli  law  is  founded 
deeply  in  the  constitution  and  course  of  nature. 
One  of  the  grounds  of  this  doctrine  was  well 
indicated  by  an  "  acute  and  experienced  phy- 
sician," Dr.  Farre,  of  London,  in  his  testimony 
before  a  Committee  of  the  British  House  of 
Commons.  That  Committee  was  appointed  in 
the  year  1832,  in  order  to  investigate  the 
effects  of  labouring  seven  days  in  a  week,  com- 
pared with  those  labouring  six,  and  resting 
one.  Dr.  Farre,  who  had  been  an  active  medi- 
cal practitioner  between  thirty  and  forty  years, 
and  who  had  for  a  long  period  been  connected 
wnth  a  public  medical  institution,  thus  stated 
the  results  of  his  observations.  "  As  a  day  of 
rest,  I  view  it  as  a  day  of  compensation  for  the 
inadequate  restorative  power  of  the  body  un- 
der continued  labour  and  excitement.  A  phy- 
sician always  has  respect  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  restorative  power ;  because  if  this 
once  be  lost,  his  healing  office  is  at  an  end.  A 
physician  is  anxious  to  preserve  the  halance  of 
circulation^  as  necessary  to  the  restorative  pow- 
er of  the  body.     The  ordinary  exertions  of 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAX    SABBATH.  101 

man  r^m  down  tlie  circulation  every  day  of  Lis 
life ;  and  the  first  general  law  of  nature,  by 
wLicli  God  prevents  man  from  destroying  him- 
self, is  the  alternating  of  day  and  night,  that 
repose  may  succeed  action.  But  although 
the  night  apparently  equalizes  the  circulation, 
yet  it  does  not  restore  the  balance  sufficiently 
for  the  attainment  of  a  long  and  active  life. 
Hence  one  day  in  seven,  by  the  bounty  of 
Providence,  is  thrown  in  as  a  day  of  compensa- 
tion, to  perfect  by  its  repose  the  animal  system. 
I  consider,  therefore,  that  in  the  bountiful 
provision  of  Providence  for  the  preservation 
of  human  life,  the  Sabbatical  appointment 
is  not  (as  it  has  sometimes  been  theologically 
viewed)  simply  a  precept,  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  a  political  institution ;  but  that  its 
observance  is  to  be  numbered  amono:st  the 
natural  duties,  if  the  preservation  of  life 
be  admitted  to  be  a  duty,  and  the  premature 
destruction  of  it  a  suicidal  act." 

These  statements,  from  a  source  so  highly 
respectable,  made  a  strong  impression  on  the 
minds  of   multitudes  at  the  time  they  were 


102  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

publislied,  hotli  in  Great  Britain  and  in  Amer- 
ica. They  awakened  in  different  directions  an 
earnest  spirit  of  inquiry.  The  New  Haven 
Medical  Association  made  them  the  subjects  of 
their  sj)ecial  discussion,  and  unanimously  re- 
affirmed them.  Fresh  experiments  were  insti- 
tuted, and  the  conviction  gained  ground  more 
widely,  that  a  seventh-day  rest  is  demanded  by 
all  labouring  animals.  For  example :  "  A  gen- 
tleman in  Vermont,  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  driving  his  horses  twelve  miles  a  day  seven 
days  in  a  week,  afterwards  changed  his  prac- 
tice, and  drove  them  but  six  days,  allowing 
them  to  rest  one.  He  then  found  that,  with 
the  same  keeping,  he  could  drive  them  fifteen 
miles  a  day,  and  preserve  them  in  as  good 
order  as  before.  So  that  a  man  may  rest  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  let  his  horses  rest,  yet  pro- 
mote the  benefit  of  both  and  be  in  all  respects 
the  gainer."  The  same  conclusion  has  forced 
itself  upon  the  attention  of  different  classes  of 
manufacturing  companies,  as  being  the  true 
law  of  labour  for  men,  whether  their  exertions 
be  chiefly  muscular  or  mental,  and  as  being 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  103 

equally  applicable  to  all  regularly  working 
animals. 

From  scenes  of  j)eaceful  agriculture,  from 
tlie  busy  marts  of  trade,  from  the  forge,  tlie 
shop,  the  factory,  from  the  laboratories  of  sci- 
ence, from  the  ships  that  plough  the  Pacific  on 
voyages  that  occupy  successive  years,  and  even 
fi'om  the  plantations  of  the  South,  where  the 
capacity  of  the  slave  for  labour  is  calculated 
with  mathematical  exactness,  the  voices  of 
earnest  men  have  been  heard,  attesting  the 
truth  that  the  Sabbatical  law  pervades  the 
whole  realm  of  active  life,  that  it  bears  upon  it 
the  impress  of  a  universal  fitness  to  the  physi- 
cal constitution  of  man,  and  that  it  will  ulti- 
mately avenge  itself  on  every  community,  that 
upholds  its  violation  or  trifles  with  its  sanc- 
tions. 

2.  Guided  by  the  light  of  these  truths, 
we  need  not  much  to  tax  the  time  or  thouo^ht 
of  any  one  to  show,  secondly,  that  the  Sabbath 
law  is  sustained  by  the  essential  principles 
of  man's  moral  constitution,  and  is  demanded 
by  its  necessities. 


lOi  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    TERPETUITY 

For,  altliougli  man  was  made  for  toil,  and 
must  earn  liis  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow, 
he  ^'  can  not  live  by  bread  alone ;"  his  spirit 
transcends  the  narrow  bounds  of  sensual 
enjoyments,  soars  above  the  sphere  of  material 
things,  and  sighs  amid  the  drudgery  of  life  for 
converse  with  a  higher  realm,  for  the  light,  air, 
and  aliment,  congenial  with  its  immortal  na- 
ture. Endowed  with  the  power  of  discerning 
the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  the 
beauty  of  truth  and  goodness,  of  aspiring  after 
what  is  noble,  lovely,  and  enduring,  of  becom- 
ing, by  sympathy,  a  partaker  of  God's  happi- 
ness, (or,  as  the  Hebraistic  phrase  has  it,  "  of 
entering  into  his  rest,")  it  often  longs  to  rise, 
as  on  eagles'  wings,  above  the  din  of  earthly 
cares,  to  cleanse  itself  from  the  dust  and  grime 
contracted  in  the  routine  of  secular  pursuits, 
that  thus  it  may  obtain  broader  views  of  its 
relations  to  God's  universe  at  large,  and  be 
made  ready  for  the  destinations  that  beckon  it 
onward  to  a  nobler  state  of  being. 

The  limits  of  this  service  forbid  that  I 
should  linger  here,  to  delineate  the  methods  by 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  105 

whicli  tlie  Sabbath  meets  tlie  call  of  this 
urgent  need.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  "  the  Lord 
of  the  Sabbath"  has  given  to  mankind  those 
ordinances,  which  were  designed  to  call  off 
our  thoughts  from  the  material  and  transient 
to  the  spiritual  and  permanent,  to  ^x  atten- 
tion on  truths  the  most  momentous,  and  to 
keep  the  mind  well  balanced  and  firmly  poised 
amid  the  excitements  and  temptations  of  this 
fleetino;  world. 

It  has  been  well  said  by  an  eminent  writer, 
that  the  soul  of  man  is  elevated  by  whatsoever 
emancipates  him  from  the  despotism  of  the 
present,  and  leads  him  to  open  his  ear  to  the 
lessons  of  the  past ;  and  it  has  been  well 
said,  also,  that  man  is  ennobled  by  every  effort 
to  anticipate  "  things  to  come,"  and,  by  a  wise 
forecast,  to  subjugate  the  present  hour  to  the 
attainment  of  future  good.  In  relation  to 
these  purposes,  literature,  science,  art,  history, 
philosophy,  poetry,  all  human  culture,  may  do 
something ;  but  nothing  can  accomplish  a 
result  so  grand,  by  means  so  simple,  as  the 
teachings  of  revealed  religion.     Every  suscep- 


106  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

tibility  of  the  soul  may  be  toiiclied,  every 
faculty  quickened,  and  the  whole  man  lifted 
to  a  higher  sj^here  of  thought  and  feeling. 

But  the  best  medicines  when  abused  become 
poison  ;  and  the  greatest  blessings,  when  per- 
verted, become  the  heaviest  curses ;  so  the 
Sabbath,  when  desecrated,  may  become  the 
means  of  the  rankest  demoralization  in  its 
effects  upon  an  individual  or  a  community.  In 
order  that  the  Sabbath  accomplish  its  benefi- 
cent aims,  it  must  be  used  in  accordance  with 
its  high  moral  ends.  If  it  be  made  a  day  of 
idleness  and  dissipation,  it  yields  effective  min- 
istry to  lawless  passion,  and  whets  the  edge  of 
every  debasing  apj)etite.  Nations  that  do  not 
recognize  the  obligations  of  the  Sabbath  law, 
lose  all  the  moral  benefits  that  might  otherwise 
be  reaped  from  intellectual  culture,  science, 
and  refinement.  Behold,  for  instance,  the 
marked  contrast  between  two  peoples,  which 
published  statistics  have  forced  upon  our  atten- 
tion. In  Scotland,  the  highest  tone  of  moral- 
ity is  found  among  the  educated  classes ;  in 
France,  the   highest  tone   of   morality  is   to 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  107 

be  found  among  the  -aneducated  classes.  In 
Scotland,  crimes  are  the  most  numerous  in  dis- 
tricts where  there  is  the  most  of  ignorance; 
in  France,  crimes  abound  in  proportion  to  the 
spread  of  scholastic  knowledge.  This  amazing 
fact  has  been  the  subject  of  remark  by  both 
British  and  French  writers,  and  especially  by 
Bulwer,  in  his  work  on  France,  published  in 
the  reign  of  Louis  Phillippe. 

And  what  is  the  great  lesson  which  this  fact 
reveals  ?  Evidently  this  :  that  knowledge  can 
not  improve  the  moral  condition  of  a  people, 
unless  the  conscience  and  the  heart  be  edu- 
cated by  Christianity.  And  as  we  know,  too, 
that  where  there  is  no  regard  to  the  Sabbath, 
there  is  no  vital  Christianity,  we  are  taught  by 
the  progressive  history  of  humanity,  that  the 
foundations  of  the  Sabbath  law  are  laid  in  the 
Constitution  and  course  of  nature. 

If  these  things  be  so,  if  these  be  true  princi- 
ples capable  of  enduring  the  strictest  scrutiny, 
let  us  resolve  that  our  plans  of  life  and  our 
conduct  shall  be  conformed  to  them ;  and  let 
us  favour  every  effort  to  commend  them  to  the 


108  THE    AUTHORITY    AND    PERPETUITY 

acceptance  of  tlie  community.  At  tliis  time, 
esj)ecially,  does  the  Sabbatli  put  forth  its  claim 
to  our  regard,  with  a  more  than  ordinary  em- 
pha-sis  of  meaning.  For  never,  more  than 
now,  has  the  attention  of  the  world  been  oc- 
cupied with  the  question,  whether  it  be 
possible  for  a  free  people,  without  a  political 
alliance  of  the  throne  and  the  altar,  to  main- 
tain a  form  of  constitutional  self-government. 
In  vain  does  the  inquirer  look  abToad  over  the 
old  continents  for  the  realization  of  such  an 
idea,  in  the  history  of  a  first-class  power  among 
the  nations.  And  when  he  directs  his  eyes  to 
this  New  World,  and  hails  the  exemplification 
of  it  which  our  fathers  transmitted  to  us,  he  is 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  this  idea  never 
has  been  realized,  and  never  can  be  realized, 
except  by  a  Sabbath-keeping  people.  He  sees 
the  profound  significance  of  a  testimony  borne 
hj  a  distinguished  Frenchman,  in  a  Keport  on 
Sabbath  observance  to  the  French  Parliament 
of  1850.  "Witness  that  city  London,  the 
capital  and  focus  of  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  where   Sunday  is   observed  with   the 


OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  109 

most  scrupulous  care,  and  wliere  two  and  a 
half  millions  of  people  are  kept  in  order  by 
three  battalions  of  infantry  and  some  troops 
of  guards,  while  Paris  requires  the  presence  of 
50,000  men." 

But  it  may  be  asked,  how  many  battalions 
does  New  York  require  to  keep  the  public 
peace  ?  The  answer  is  "  our  glory  and  our 
joy  ;"  and  when  we  say  "  not  one,"  "  the  com- 
munity is  self-governed,"  we  know  that  the 
reason  of  this  distinction  is  the  fact,  that  we 
have  grown  up  fi'om  infancy  a  comparatively 
Sabbath-keeping  people.  Join  with  me  in 
the  prayer,  God  help  us  to  be  true  to  this 
trust,  and  save  us  from  the  folly  of  those  who 
would  tempt  us  by  baits  of  sensual  gratifica- 
tion, to  sell,  like  Esau,  a  sacred  birthright. 


THE 


DUTIES  OF  THE  SABBATH, 


BY   THE 


REV.  HENKY  D.  GANSE, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  TWENTY-THIKB   STREET  REFORMED  DUTCH   CHURCH. 


"  Remember  the  Sabbath-day,   to  k-eep  it  holt.    Six  dats  "shalt 

THOD  labour,  AXD  DO  ALL  THl'  WORK.   BuT  THE  SEVENTH  DAY  IS  THE 

Sabbath  op  the  Lord  tht  God  :  ix  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work, 

THOU,  nor  thy  son,  NOR  THY  DAUGHTER,  NOR  THY  MAN-SERYANT,  NOR  THY 
maid-servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  THY  STRANGER  THAT  IS  WITHIN  THY 
GATES  :  FOR  IN  SIX  DAYS  THE  LORD  MADE  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH,  THE  SEA, 
AND  ALL  THAT  IN  THEM  IS,  AND  RESTED  THE  SEVENTH  DAY:  WHERKFORE 

THE  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath-day  and  hallowed  it." — Exodirs 
XX.  8-11. 

The  first  two  discourses  of  tliis  series  liave 
established  tlie  divine  origin  and  permanent  an- 
tliority  of  the  Sabbath.  It  is  important  for 
us  to  keep  these  conclusions  in  mind,  as  we 
proceed  to-night,  to  inquire  how  the  Sabl3at]i  is 
to  be  kept.  All  obligation  is  defined  by  law  ; 
and  it  will  appear,  accordingly,  that  those 
loose  views  concerning  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  which  good  men  have  held  in  Re- 
formation times,  or  in  our  own,  have  grown 
out  of  the  notion  that  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment was  a  part  of  that  Jewish  economy, 
which  tlie  coming  in  of  a  better  covenant  has 
iibrogated.     We,  upon  the  other  liand,  have 


114  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

found  every  reason  for  leaving  that  command 
wliere  God  lias  placed  it — among  those  funda- 
mental moral  precepts  which  constitute  the 
2:>ermanent  and  universal  law  of  our  race. 
These  reasons  have  been  amply  stated,  and  do 
not  need  to  be  reviewed.  Yet  let  me  say,  that 
even  a  very  imperfect  exposition  of  the  law  of 
the  Sabbath  cannot  fail  to  add  something 
to  the  evidence  of  its  permanent  authority. 

At  our  first  view  of  the  Sabbatic  law,  we 
are  struck  with  its  brevity  and  lack  of  detail. 
It  would  be  natural  to  reo^ret  this  feature  of  it, 
and  to  think  that  fuller  legislation  upon  this  sub- 
ject would  have  forestalled  many  mischievous 
disputes,  and  have  saved  tender  consciences 
from  distressing  doubts.  But  a  moment's  re- 
flection will  show  us,  that  any  minute  scrip- 
tural statement  of  Sabbath  duties  was  by 
no  means  to  be  expected.  For  it  is  evident 
that  those  duties  must  vary  with  the  varying 
relations  of  those  who  are  to  perform  them. 
A  perfect  Sabbath  for  a  Jew  would  not  be  a 
perfect  Sabbath  for  a  Christian.  The  acts 
that  might  become  a  newly  converted  Caffre  oil 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  115 

that  clay,  would  not  satisfy  the  conscience  of  an 
intellicrent  Christian  in  Eno;land  or  America. 
The  chikVs  Sabbath  duties  must  differ  materi- 
ally from  those  of  his  parent.  Even  the  lapse 
of  time,  increasing  as  it  does  the  scope  of  Chris- 
tian knowledge,  and  sympathy,  and  action, 
must  greatly  modify  the  employments  of  the  ho- 
ly day.  Thus  our  own  Sabbaths  embody  special 
forms  of  well-doing,  of  which  even  our  grand- 
parents could  hardly  have  conceived  ;  and  the 
Sabbaths  of  the  millennium,  again,  shall  differ 
widely  from  our  own.  So  evident  is  it  that  a 
rigid  routine  of  Sabbath  acts  could  not  be  pre- 
scribed even  in  an  inspired  book.  The  most 
that  we  could  fairly  look  for,  would  be  the 
announcement  of  such  general  princij^les  of 
Sabbath  duty,  as  shall  be  of  easy  and  univer- 
sal application.  Such  princijDles,  I  think,  are 
embodied  in  the  law  which  we  are  to  con- 
sider to-nierht. 

I  propose  first  to  explain  the  general  scope 
of  that  law ;  and  then  to  detail  some  of  the 
duties  which  it  imposes  u]3on  us. 

I.  The  desim  of  the  Fourth  Commandment 


IIG  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

is  evidently  twofold.  In  part  it  is  a  prohibi- 
tion of  labour  on  the  seventh  day.  ''  In  it 
thou  shalt  not  do  any  work."  The  law  is" 
clear,  and  has  never  been  revoked.  On  the 
other  hand,  exjDerience  has  taught  us  that  the 
need  of  a  weekly  rest  is  lodged  in  our  physical 
constitution.  So  far,  then,  as  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath  enjoins  such  rest,  it  stands  upon  the 
same  footing  with  those  other  precepts  of  the 
decalogue,  which  forbid  theft,  or  murder,  or 
other  acts  that  offer  injury  to  individuals  or  so- 
ciety. Our  Saviour,  accordingly,  did  not  in- 
tend to  set  this  necessary  law  aside,  when  he 
relieved  it  of  the  rigid  and  mischievous  con- 
struction which  the  Jews  had  put  upon  it. 
We  know  that  they  refused  to  defend  them- 
selves against  their  enemies  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  counted  our  Kedeemer  to  have  profaned 
the  day  by  the  performance  even  of  his  most 
merciful  miracles.  But  Christ  taught  them 
that  "  it  is  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  Sabbath, 
day :"  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  s^Dirit  of 
the  commandment  was  kept  by  him,  and  not 
by  them.     The  natural  law  which  devotes  the 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    BABBATII.  117 

night  to  repose,  is  as  formal  and  intelligible  as 
the  express  law  of  the  Sabbath;  and  yet 
no  man  considers  that  that  law  of  nature 
forbids  him  to  rise  from  his  bed  to  direct  a 
traveller,  or  to  watch  the  whole  night  with  the 
sick  or  dying.  Just  so  the  Christian  church 
loses  none  of  its  reverence  for  the  Fom^th 
Commandment,  when  it  learns  from  the  pre- 
cej)ts  and  example  of  our  Saviour,  that  the 
hours  of  the  Sabbath  may  be  most  appropri- 
ately spent  in  acts  of  necessity  and  mercy. 

But  the  Sabbath  law  is  more  than  a  mere 
prohibition  of  labour.  The  command  is  posi- 
tive :  "  Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep 
it  holy  ;"  and  this  command  in  enforced  by 
the  fact  that  "■  God  blessed  the  Sabbath-day 
and  hallowed  it."  We  claim  that  these  ex- 
pressions are  intended  to  dedicate  the  day  to 
the  highest  religious  and  spiritual  uses.  And 
we  argue 

First,  from  the  terms  themselves.  In  the  orig- 
inal, the  expressions  "  keep  holy"  and  "  hallow" 
are  the  same.  The  word  that  is  so  translated, 
is  constantly  employed  to  indicate  those  acts, 


118  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

Avlietlier  of  God,  or  of  men  under  his  appoint- 
ment, l)y  which  priests,  or  vestments,  or  altars, 
or  sacrifices,  were  said  to  be  sanctified.  Now  it 
is  easy  to  understand  what  is  involved  in  sanc- 
tifying or  making  holy  a  priest,  or  his  official 
clothing,  or  an  altar,  or  a  victim.  And  the  sanc- 
tifying of  a  day ;  what  shall  that  be  but  its 
consecration  to  the  same  sacred  use,  to  which  all 
the  rest  are  given  ?  namely,  to  God's  worship. 
This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  fact,  that 
keeping  the  Sabbath  is  made,  both  in  the  law 
itself  and  elsewhere,  a  duty  to  God.  "  The 
seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy 
God."  "  Ye  shall  keep  my  Sabbaths,  I  am  the 
Lord."  "  Ye  shall  reverence  my  Sabbaths." 
Elsewhere  God  calls  it  "  my  holy  day."  In- 
deed, the  very  j^osition  of  the  command  in  the 
first  table  of  the  decalogue,  proves  that  God  is 
the  chief  object  of  the  duties  it  enjoins.  And 
the  fact  that  all  the  other  commands  of  that 
table  are  negative  in  form  and  meaning,  fairly 
concentrates  upon  this  positive  law  all  the  sig- 
nificance which  its  terms  will  naturally  bear. 
It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  there  are,  in- 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  119 

deed,  but  two  positive  statutes  in  all  the  deca- 
logue, one  in  each  table.  Neither  of  these 
opposes  itself  in  detailed  terms  to  the  sins 
which  the  other  commandments  forbid ;  and 
yet  each  of  them  has  within  itself  the  spirit 
and  germ  of  a  universal  duty.  The  command- 
ment, "Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother," 
begins  the  second  table,  by  establishing  in  fil- 
ial reverence  and  domestic  law  the  corner- 
stone of  all  social  virtue.  The  first  table 
closes  with  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  which,  by 
recalling  men  from  worldly  engagements  to  the 
frequent  and  thoughtful  worship  of  God,  lays 
the  deeper  and  broader  foundations  of  all  duty, 
both  toward  God  himself  and  toward  society. 
The  two  commandments  stand  in  the  midst  of 
the  decalogue,  articulated  together,  the  living 
rock  by  which  the  whole  is  stable.  Elsewhere, 
in  a  less  formal  but  more  detailed  exhibition 
of  duty,  these  two  commands  are  bound  into 
one,  and  lead  the  list ;  "  Ye  shall  fear  every 
man  his  mother  and  his  father,  and  keep 
my  Sabbaths.  I  am  the  Lord  your  God."  (Lev. 
xix.  3.)      It   is  plain  that  a  law   which  sus- 


120  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

tains  sucli  a  relation  to  God's  great  moral  code, 
must  be  something  more  than  a  prohibition  of 
labour. 

But  the  meanins:  of  that  law  comes  out  more 
clearly  in  subsequent  legislation.  On  the  Sab- 
bath, the  daily  offering  of  a  lamb  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  of  another  in  the  evening,  was  re- 
quired to  be  doubled ;  as  were  the  accompany- 
ino-  meat-offerino:s  and  drink-offerinsrs.  (Num. 
xxviii.  9,  10.)  This  increase  of  service,  it  will 
be  seen,  was  by  no  means  great  enough  to  be 
burdensome ;  yet  it  sufficed  to  mark  the  relig- 
ious character  of  the  day.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  people  were  required  to  assemble  on  that 
day  for  special  worship.  "The  Lord  spake 
unto  Moses,  saying.  Speak  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  say  unto  them:  Concerning  the 
feasts  of  the  Lord,  which  ye  shall  proclaim  to 
be  holy  convocations,  even  these  are  my  feasts. 
Six  days  shall  work  be  done  ;  but  the  seventh 
day  is  the  Sabbath  of  rest,  an  holy  convocation. 
Ye  shall  do  no  work  therein ;  it  is  the  Sabbath 
of  the  Lord  in  all  your  dwellings."  (Lev.  xxiii. 
1-3.)    Accordingly,  it  was  natural  that  respect 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  121 

for  the  Sabbath,  and  respect  for  the  holy  place 
where  the  Sabbath  was  to  be  observed,  should 
be  inculcated  in  the  same  command.  "  Ye 
shall  keep  my  Sabbaths,  and  reverence  my 
sanctuary.     I  am  the  Lord."     (Lev.  xix.  30.) 

Distinct  indications  of  this  Sabbath  worship 
meet  us  farther  down  in  the  Old  Testament 
books.  The  author  of  "  a  Psalm  or  song  for  the 
Sabbath-day,"  breaks  forth  in  this  grand  strain  : 
"  It  is  a  good  thing  to  give  thanks  unto  the 
Lord,  and  to  sing  praises  unto  thy  name,  O  Most 
High."  The  prophet  Isaiah,  too,  amid  similar 
predictions,  foretells,  as  the  sign  of  the  church's 
future  growth  and  glory,  that  "  From  one  Sab- 
bath to  another,  all  flesh  shall  come  to  worship 
before  the  Lord."  (Isa.  Ixvi.  23.)  And  Ezek- 
iel  proclaims  it  as  the  law  of  the  temple 
which  he  sees  in  vision,  that  "  The  people  of  the 
land  shall  worship  at  the  door  of  its  inner 
court  before  the  Lord,  in  the  Sabbaths  and  in 
the  new  moons." 

The  Sabl:)ath  worship  of  synagogues  in  New 

Testament  times  is  familiarly  known  to  us  all, 

as  is  the  respect  which  our  Saviour  and  his 
6 


122  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    HABBATII. 

Apostles  constantly  paid  to  it.  And  wlien, 
after  the  resurrection,  the  seventh-day  Sabbath 
fell  into  disuse,  its  worship  was  by  no 
means  abandoned,  but  only  transferred  to 
the  first  day  of  the  week.  On  that  day  the 
disciples  met  to  break  bread,  and  listened 
while  Paul  preached.  (Acts  xx.  7.)  On  that 
day,  each  Corinthian  Christian  was  directed 
"  to  lay  by  him  in  store"  for  the  relief  of  poor 
saints.  (1  Cor.  xvi.  2.)  Whether  the  "  store  " 
was  to  be  public  or  private,  the  act  equally 
betokened  the  holy  use  of  the  day.  On  that 
day,  too,  the  apostle  John  devoted  himself  to 
those  high  spiritual  duties  which  prepared  him 
to  receive  the  Apocalyptic  vision.  Add  to  this 
the  religious  respect  paid  to  the  Lord's  day, 
both  in  the  writings  and  the  usages  of  the 
early  church,  and  it  is  plain  beyond  question, 
that  from  the  first  announcement  of  the  Sab- 
bath law  until  now,  the  church  of  God  has 
counted  every  seventh  day  sacred  to  religious 
duty. 

The  proofs  that  we  have  quoted  have  borne 
most  directly  upon  the  public  worship  of  the 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  123 

by  its  terms  and  the  insj)ired  history  of  its 
observance,  but  by  the  obvious  and  impera- 
tive needs  of  those  for  whom  it  has  been  given. 
For  if  the  repose  of  the  seventh  day  is  neces- 
sary for  our  bodies,  the  spiritual  advantages  of 
a  holy  Sabbath  are  at  least  as  necessary  for  our 
souls.  We  are  made  up  of  these  two  parts; 
and  neither  is  entitled  to  displace  the  other. 
Yet  our  spiiitual  part  is  entitled  to  rule.  The 
body,  at  best,  is  but 

"  The  earthly  root, 
That  makes  its  branches  lift  their  golden  fruit 
Into  the  bloom  of  heaven," 

A  perfect  man,  if  he  could  be  found,  would  be 
one  in  whom  soul  and  body  should  be  in  com- 
plete harmony :  the  soul  in  union  with  God, 
expanded,  stimulated,  controlled  by  all  affec- 
tionate acquaintance  and  sympathy  with  him- 
self and  his  plans;  the  body,  offering  every 
sense  and  member  and  passion  to  the  prompt 
accomplishment  of  the  soul's  behests ;  and  both 
together  feasting  with  unabating  relish  upon 
every  wholesome  gratification  of  thought  and 
sense.     Such  a  man  would  not  need  a  Sabbath. 


124  THE    DUTIES    OF   THE   SABBATH. 

Sabbath.  But  oljligation  to  liouseliold  and 
personal  devotion  on  that  day  is  not  left  in 
question.  "  It  is  the  Sabbatli  of  tlie  Lord  in 
all  your  dwellings."  (Lev.  xxiii.  3.)  That  most 
striking  j^assage  of  Isaiah,  too  (Iviii.  13),  not 
only  exacts  of  men  tlieir  concurrence  in  the 
l)ublic  duties  of  the  Sabbath,  but  their  personal 
and  hearty  reverence  for  it  all.  "  If  thou  turn 
away  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  from  doing 
thy  pleasure  en  my  holy  day ;  and  call  the  Sab- 
bath a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honoura- 
ble ;  and  shalt  honour  him,  not  doing  thine  own 
ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor 
speaking  thine  own  words:  then  shalt  thou 
delight  thyself  in  the  Lord."  Surely  no  acts 
of  public  Avorship,  however  complete,  can  meet 
all  the  demands  of  these  comprehensive  words. 
Add  to  this  that  the  last  hint  which  the  Scrip- 
tures afford  us  concerning  Sabbath  worship, 
presents  St.  John  "  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's 
day,"  not  in  the  midst  of  a  congregation,  but 
alone. 

But  the  spiritual  scope  of  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment is  fairly  to  be  illustrated,  not  only 


•^ 


)  ^  - 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  125 

Or  if  that  blessed  day  were  appointed  for  him 
even  in  paradise,  it  should  come,  not  like  music 
after  discord,  but  like  a  melody  flashing  out 
among  stately  harmonies,  and  hushing  their 
mighty  march,  while  it  lifts  up  joy  into  rap- 
ture. But  we  can  live  no  such  life  as  this ; 
and  that,  for  two  reasons.  One  is,  that  sin 
has  just  reversed  the  relations  of  soul  and  body, 
and  made  that  master  which  should  be  servant. 
And  the  other  is,  that  the  objects  which  appeal 
to  our  degraded  tastes  and  passions  are  all  near 
at  hand,  besieging  every  sense,  while  spiritual 
things  are  far  removed,  and  are  quite  invisible. 
Now,  if  a  sinful  man  were  only  to  live  among 
these  worldly  influences,  he  must  be  sadly 
warped  by  them.  But  let  them  furnish  the 
material  of  his  daily  thought  and  labour.  Let 
him  look  to  them  for  the  means  of  all  comfort 
and  aggrandizement,  so  that  his  heart  shall 
grow  to  them  by  the  power  of  every  affection 
and  energy  and  habit ;  then  let  there  be  no 
break  in  this  mischievous  training:,  but  let 
every  day  be  worldly :  and  how  shall  the  in- 
visible things  of  God  and  the  soul  get  access 


126  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

to  him  ?  Those  may  answer  who  even  pay 
the  Sabbath  an  outward  homage,  but  discard 
its  spiritual  use.  Let  them  rise  up  in  our 
churches,  where  they  sit  not  inattentive  to  the 
utterance  of  God's  word,  and  testify  how  the 
love  of  the  world  makes  them  insensible  to  its 
power. 

Now,  the  spiritual  Sabbath  is  God's  means 
of  deliverance  from  this  thraldom.  It  brings 
up  the  slave  out  of  his  mine  to  show  him  the 
heavens  and  the  light.  It  is  medicinal  and 
restorative.  It  undertakes  to  compensate  for  a 
mighty  evil  by  an  opposite  good  ;  and  to  this 
end  it  must  surely  be  more  than  a  day  of 
recreation  or  repose.  How  many  hours  of 
sleep,  or  of  social  pleasure,  will  be  needed  to 
loosen  the  grip  of  a  week  of  worldliness,  and 
to  surround  a  soul  with  the  great  things  of 
God  ?  Nor  must  it  be  a  day  of  common  inno- 
cence, or  kindness,  or  even  devotion.  Its  office 
is  to  lay  up  a  store  of  spiritual  thought  and 
feeling.  A  man  who  lives  beside  a  spring  may 
drink  and  go  his  way.  But  the  fainting  trav- 
eller across  a  desert,  feels  his  heart  leap  for  joy 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    BABBATH.  127 

at  the  first  sight  of  the  palm  trees.  He 
hastens  to  the  refreshing  waters ;  he  drinks  his 
fill  of  them ;  he  bathes  his  brow  in  them. 
But  he  does  not  turn  his  back  on  the  green 
leaves,  till  he  has  filled  every  vessel  with  the 
precious  fluid.  If  his  flask  were  filled  with 
diamonds,  he  would  pour  them  out  that  he 
might  fill  it  with  water.  The  Sabbath  is  our 
spring  in  the  desert,  and  its  supplies  are  equal 
to  our  needs. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  understand  those 
words  of  our  Kedeemer,  which  the  enemies  of 
a  spiritual  Sabbath  so  often  quote  against  it. 
"  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  Sabbath."  Could  any  words  be 
truer,  or  of  more  transparent  meaning  ?  Christ 
says  the  Sabbath  is  the  means  ;  and  man's  ad- 
vantage is  the  end.  But  what  advantage  ? 
Evidently  that  which  the  Sabbath  is  adapted 
to  secure.  Just  so,  in  an  important  sense,  na- 
ture was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for 
nature.  "  God  hath  made  him  to  have  domin- 
ion over  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the  fowl  of  the 
air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  whatsoever 


128  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

passeth  tlirougli  tlie  paths  of  tlie  sea."  Then 
how  shall  nature  serve  her  lord  ?  In  part,  with 
harvests  from  her  fields,  and  fleeces  from  her 
flocks  ;  with  music  for  his  ear,  and  beauties  for 
his  sieht.  But  is  this  all  ?  And  have  those 
perverted  nature,  who  stand  with  tearful  ecsta- 
cy  within  the  sanctuary  of  towering  moun- 
tains, and  make  ladders  of  their  glittering 
steeps,  with  which  their  souls  mount  up  to  the 
very  throne  of  God  ?  Nay,  in  heaven  itself, 
there  are  seats  prepared  for  man.  Is  heaven, 
therefore,  a  mere  elysium — a  paradise  of  the 
false  prophet,  with  pleasures  for  every  sense 
and  none  for  the  soul  ?  The  Sabbath  voas  made 
for  man.  Let  it  do  its  whole  work.  Let  it  re- 
lieve the  weary  limbs.  Let  it  smooth  the 
brow  of  care.  And  let  it  lead  the  penitent  to 
the  Cross.  Let  it  "  preach  good  tidings  unto 
tbe  meek ;  let  it  bind  u]3  the  broken-hearted 
and  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the 
opening  of  the  prisons  to  them  that  are  bound." 
And  if  any  would  limit  its  oflice  to  rest  and 
pleasure,  they  must  seek  a  better  warrant  than 
this  ;   that  he,  who  counted  men's  souls  worth 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  129 

dying  for,  declared   tliat  "the  Sabbath   was 
made  for  man." 

The  law  of  the  Sabbath,  as  we  have  thus 
reviewed  it,  presents  itself  to  us  in  a  twofold 
aspect. 

It  is  the  announcement  of  God's  claim.  By 
the  Sabbath  he  says  :  "  I  have  not  cast  out  my 
creatures  into  this  world  of  toil  and  temptation, 
regardless  whether  they  serve  me  or  forget 
me.  At  least  on  this  day,  my  children,  come 
back  to  me  from  all  your  distractions.  Ac- 
knowledge my  goodness  and  your  indebted- 
ness. Acknowledge  my  law  and  your  sins. 
On  this  day,  too,  be  still  and  listen  to  my 
voice.  Then  gird  yourselves  again  for  duty ; 
and  so  carry  the  thought  of  my  authority 
through  all  your  days  of  worldly  care  and 
danger."  In  monarchical  countries,  the  nation- 
al flag  floating  over  the  palace  is  a  sign  that 
the  monarch  is  within.  God  has  set  up  his 
Sabbath  on  earth  as  the  signal  of  his  royal 
presence.  And  there  is  no  truer  test  of  loyal- 
ty than  the  kind  of  regard  that  is  paid  to  the 
sacred  emblem.    The  law  of  the  Sabbath,  more 


130  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

than  any  other,  puts  men  to  the  proof,  "  whether 
they  will  keep  God's  commanclments  or  no." 
Other  commands  stand  connected  with  obvious 
and  speedy  results,  whether  of  good  or  evil, 
which  may  ensure  obedience  to  them  quite  in- 
dependently of  any  regard  of  the  lawgiver. 
Thus  a  man  may  keep  himself  from  theft,  mur- 
der, or  adultery,  from  a  natural  fear  or  disgust 
of  those  mischievous  sins,  and  yet  never  think 
of  God.     Now,  the  keeping  or  the  breaking  of 
the  Sabbath  entails  results,  and  of  the  largest 
proportions ;  but  they  are  not  so  sharply  de- 
fined nor  so  near  at  hand,  as  to  control  men's 
natural  instincts  or  fears.     In  that  law,  the  au- 
thority of  God,  who  ordained  the  Sabbath  for 
himself,  stands  out  in  the  brightest  light ;  and 
all  remoter  motives  to  obedience  lie   in    the 
shade.     The  man  who  keeps  that  law,  then, 
keeps  it  for  God's  sake,  and  therefore  keeps  all 
laws.     The  Sabbath  is  the  dyke  which  God  has 
reared  against  the  sea  of  human  passion.     Be- 
hind it  lie  the  green  fields.     While  it  is  firm, 
they  are  safe.     When  it  is  thrown  down,  nei- 
ther waving  corn,  nor  sacred  homes,  can  stand 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  131 

up  against  tlie  turbid  flood.  The  Sabbath  is 
the  finger-board,  set  up  by  God  where  the  two 
ways  meet.  Upon  it  is  written,  "Those  who 
fear  God  walk  here."  No  finger-board  marks 
the  other  path  ;  but  those  who  find  perdition 
at  the  end  of  it,  remember  that  just  at  this 
point  they  turned  aside. 

But  the  Sabbath  is  not  only  nor  chiefly 
an  exaction.  It  is  a  promise.  God  would 
never  require  men  to  seek  him,  unless  he 
were  willing  to  come  near  to  them.  He 
hlessed  the  Sabbath-day  as  well  as  hallowed 
it.  And  thus,  even  under  the  old  economy, 
side  by  side  with  the  law  of  that  day,  stood 
the  promise  :  "  In  all  places  where  I  record 
my  name,  I  will  come  unto  you  and  bless  you." 
The  Sabbath  convocations  and  sacrifices  were 
not  so  much  an  enforced  tribute  from  men  to 
God,  as  a  trustful  aj^peal  for  the  covenanted 
blessings.  Nothing  but  the  most  heartless  and 
ignorant  formalism,  ever  perverted  even  the 
Jewish  Sabbath  into  a  day  of  austerity.  The 
statutes  which  guarded  the  day  were  rigid,  in- 
deed, as  they  needed  to  be.     But  they  were 


132  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SAIJBATH. 

only  the  wall  about  it.  The  Sabbath  itself, 
with  its  hoi}'  ways  and  worship,  was  a2:>pointed 
to  be  "  a  delight."  So  the  nation  used  it  in  its 
best  days.  They  "  entered  into  his  gates  wdth 
thanksgiving,  and  into  his  courts  with  praise." 
Their  exuberant  joy  could  only  half  express 
itself  w^ith  j^salteries  and  harps,  with  cymbals 
and  dances ;  and  so  they  challenged  the  "  floods 
to  claj)  their  hands,  and  all  the  trees  of  the 
w^ood  to  rejoice"  with  them  "  before  the  Lord." 
It  was  not  their  Sabbath  worship,  but  the  loss 
of  it,  that  made  them  sad.  "  My  heart  pant- 
eth  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord."  "  They  wept 
when  they  remembered  Zion."  "  I  will  cause," 
said  Hosea,  "  all  her  mirth  to  cease,  her  feast 
days,  her  new  moons,  and  her  Sabbaths,  and 
all  her  solemn  feasts."  And  Jeremiah  com- 
plains in  his  Lamentations,  "the  Lord  hath 
caused  the  Sabbaths  to  be  forgotten  in  Zion." 
So  little  do  those  men  know  of  the  ancient 
Sabbath,  who  would  make  the  abrogation  of 
the  day  one  of  the  favours  of  the  gospel.  The 
gospel  was  not  meant  to  rob  men,  but  to  en- 
rich   them.      God's    Sabbath   always    was   a 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  133 

blessiuo-;  tlie  Pharisees'  Sabbath  was  a  bur- 
den.  Christ  tore  off  the  burden;  but  the 
Sabbath  he  blessed  anew,  and  hallowed  it. 

What  significance  has  his  grace  added   to 
that  day  of  mercy  !     Interpret  it  by  his  gos- 
pel, which  it  now  proclaims  ;  by  his  cross  ;  by 
his  resurrection  and  ascension  ;  by  the  promise 
and  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  by  the  history  of 
its  own  triumphs ;  by  its  pledge  of  a  future 
rest ;  and  the  day  becomes  almost  a  sacrament, 
a  seal  upon  God's  covenant,  the  "  visible  sign 
of  invisible  grace."     As  often  as  it  dawns,  the 
promises   waken   like   "the    birds   that    sing 
among  the  branches."     Nay,  the  whole  day  is 
a  promise.     It  is  more  than  that ;  it  is  a  prom- 
ise fulfilled.     It  brings  what  it  offers— pardon 
for  the  guilty,  grace  for  the  fallen,  help  for  the 
despairing,  comfort  for  the  sad.     The  Sabbath 
is  the  point  at  which  the  circle  of  our  sins  and 
sorrows  and  the  circle  of  God's  grace  touch 
each  other.     It  is  the  open  portal  between  this 
world  and  heaven.     When  our  Kedeemer  as- 
cended the  everlasting  doors  were  lifted,  and 
they  have  not  closed  again.     On  this  side  there 


134  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

presses  to  tliem  tlie  multitude  of  needy  men, 
saddened  with  sins  and  fears.  On  yonder  side 
is  the  glory  of  the  throne  and  the  Intercessor, 
the  fulness  of  joy,  and  the  innumerable  compa- 
ny of  angels.  The  sad  faces  kindle  in  that 
holy  light.  Men  sing,  and  think  they  hear 
the  voice  of  seraphs.  Abounding  grace  and 
abounding  sin  confront  each  other  ;  and  grace 
triumphs. 

II.  'Now,  how  shall  this  Sabbath  be  kept  ? 
The  most  obvious  and  the  safest  answer  is: 
According  to  its  design. 

We  tend  naturally  to  formalism.  It  is 
so  much  easier  to  control  the  lips  and  the 
hands  than  to  control  the  heart,  that  we 
are  always  tempted  to  construct  a  routine 
of  outward  duties,  and  to  call  that  piety. 
The  next  step  is  for  bigotry  to  make  its 
forms  a  law  for  others.  And  thus  God's 
grace,  that  is  ordained  to  be  inward  joy  and 
strength,  is  turned  into  chains  and  fetters. 
This  tendency  has  never  developed  itself  more 
fully  or  more  mischievously  than  in  exchanging 
the  spirit  of  the  Sabbath  for  rules  and  restric- 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  135 

tions.  As  well  might  you  banisli  from  a  house- 
hold all  family  affection,  and  attempt  to  sujoply 
its  place  with  rules  of  politeness.  You  have 
set  uj)  a  dry  skeleton  where  there  should  be  a 
beating  heart  and  the  glow  of  life  and  love. 
Let  us  be  sure  that  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  is 
a  law  for  the  soul ;  and  the  soul  must  keep  it 
or  it  is  not  kept.  In  other  words,  the  first 
requisite  to  a  well-kept  Sabbath  is  a  hearty 
consent  to  the  spiritual  design  of  the  day. 

Does  it  follow,  then,  that  Sabbath-keeping 
is  a  matter  independent  of  all  rule,  and  that 
each  man  is  to  regulate  it  for  himself  by  his 
own  taste  or  caj^rice  ?  Far  from  this.  The 
Sabbath  is  appointed  for  ends,  and  these  ends 
are  to  be  attained  by  adequate  means.  A 
lover  of  the  Sabbath  has  a  double  work  before 
him.  He  is  to  rescue  the  day  from  common, 
uses.  He  is  to  consecrate  it  to  spiritual  use  and 
profit.  And  in  both  attempts  he  is  to  employ, 
first  of  all,  the  means  which  God  has  formally 
prescribed. 

The  day  is  to  be  rescued^  then,  1.  From 
worldly  work.     The  body  must  have  rest  and 


136  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

refresliment,  that  tlie  soul  may  have  leisure 
and  spirit  for  grasping  the  things  that  are  not 
seen. 

2.  For  the  same  reason  a  man  must  rest  from 
the  thoughts  of  work ;  for  these  are  work  itself, 
and  of  the  most  absorbing  character.  A 
Christian,  in  his  weekly  labor  at  his  loom  or 
work-bench,  can  come  far  nearer  to  a  Sabbath 
temper  than  does  that  man  who,  on  the  Sab- 
bath day,  carries  his  half-formed  plans  to  his 
fireside  or  to  the  church. 

3.  So,  too,  the  Sabbath  must  be  secured  from 
worldly  pleasures.  Surely,  those  that  are  for- 
bidden on  other  days  are  doubly  mischievous 
on  this.  And  those  mere  pleasures  which  on 
other  days  are  innocent  have  no  right  to 
cumber  this  ground.  The  tastes  which  con- 
tent themselves  with  literature  or  art,  or 
even  with  mere  nature,  the  social  delights 
of  friendly  or  learned  conversation,  hospitality 
itself  as  a  means  of  worldly  pleasure,  the  very 
affections  of  home  if  kept  down  to  the  level  of 
common  worldly  kindness,  all  withhold  the  day 
from   its  use.     These  things  are  beautiful  in 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  137 

their  place.  Bring  them  np  to  the  level  of 
Sabbath  feeling,  and  they  may  adorn  the  Sab- 
bath too.  But  while  they  remain  worldly,  they 
pervert  the  day. 

4.  Nor  is  a  curious  concern  for  any  worldly 
interest  entitled  to  absorb  this  holy  time. 
Events  that  ai-e  lodged  in  the  memory  or  that 
announce  themselves  on  the  Sabbath  unsou^rht, 
or  calls  of  duty  that  may  need  a  prompt  re- 
sponse, may  fairly  shape  the  current  of  Sab- 
bath feeling  and  action.  But  no  grandest  event 
quite  beyond  us  in  the  world  ;  not  even  the 
tramp  of  armies  and  the  convulsions  of  a  nation, 
have  a  right  to  disturb  the  silence  of  that  sanc- 
tuary. The  Sabbath  frame  is  concerned  not  so 
much  with  the  passing  acts  of  a  providence  that 
cannot  be  scanned,  as  with  the  grace  of  a  cove- 
nant ordered  in  all  things  and  sure.  Christian 
men  among  us  have  mistaken  the  use  of  the  day, 
when  they  have  suffered  it  to  be  distracted  by 
curiosity  concerning  human  achievements  even 
in  a  holy  cause.  Better  for  that  day  at  least 
to  "  dwell  in  the  secret  place  of  the  most  High, 
and  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty." 


138  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

In  a  word,  the  instincts  of  a  heart  in  love 
with  the  Sabbath  will  teach  it  what  engage- 
ments the  Sabbath  precludes.  As  a  father  in 
foreign  lands  is  jealous  of  his  very  pleasures 
lest  they  may  obscure  his  vision  of  the  far  off 
group  that  watches  for  his  return,  so  he  who 
wishes  to  keep  that  holy  day,  needs  no  man  to 
teach  him  what  hinders  him  in  the  work.  One 
who  watches  the  sun  will  know  when  it  is 
clouded. 

•  The  reasonableness  and  necessity  of  these 
restrictions  will  not  be  questioned  by  those 
who  revere  the  Sabbath.  But  a  multitude  of 
men  who  would  not  call  themselves  its  enemies, 
will  by  no  means  submit  to  them,  and  thus 
there  has  sprung  up  a  form  of  proverbial  phi- 
losophy which  assumes  at  once  to  honor  the 
day  and  to  overleap  all  its  restraints.  "  The 
better  the  day,  the  better  the  deed."  A  man 
is  bent  upon  his  work  or  pleasure,  and  consci- 
ence checks  him  with  God's  command.  Remem- 
ber the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy.  He  only 
needs  to  utter  his  talismanic  proverb  and  the 
command  is  dumb   and   his   conscience  free. 


THE    DtTTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  139 

But  whence  does  this  spell  derive  its  power  ? 
Not  from  its  evident  reasonableness ;  it  means 
nothing.    Can  a  good  day  sanctify  a  bad  deed, 
like  profanity  or  murder  ?   Can  a  good  day  sanc- 
tify an  indifferent  deed  that  has  no  sympathy 
with  its  design,  but  is  driven  into  the  midst  of 
its  holy  affections  and  engagements  like  wood 
into  the  living  flesh  ?    Days  do  not  make  deeds 
good.     Deeds  help  to  make  days  good.     Man 
is  more  than  the  Sabbath.    Is  there  anything  in 
Sunday  light  and  Sunday  air  to  disinfect  and 
spiritualize  a  human  soul  or  a  human  act  ?    The 
good  deed  is  the  deed  that  fits  the  good  day, 
and  then  indeed,  the  day  with  the  grace  that  is 
in  it  makes  it  better, — fuller  of  spirituality — 
fuller  of  promise — fuller  of  joy  and  strength. 
If  the  saying  assumes  to  mean  more  than  this  it  is 
a  mere  lure,  a  trick  of  Satan,  a  sententious  false- 
hood, with  which  to  silence  a  conscience  that 
knows  not  how  to  silence  itself.     Men   may 
take  the  bait  if  they  will ;  but  they  shall  find 
at  last  that  a  jingle  of  human  words  does  not 
drown  the  voice  of  God. 

But  the  Sabbath  is  not  only  to  be  rescued 


1-10  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

from  worldly  uses ;  it  is  to  be  devoted  to  its  oion 
spiritual  ends.  And  here  again,  the  methods 
fii*st  to  be  used  are  those  which  God  has  ap- 
pointed. 

1.  The  "holy  convocation"  of  the  Sabbath 
was  expressly  appointed  under  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  the  New  not  only  presents  the  exam- 
ple of  its  continuance,  but  the  formal  command, 
"  Forsake  not  the  assembling  of  yourselves  to- 
gether." That  public  Sabbath  worship  and 
instruction  are  adapted  to  further  the  ends  of 
that  holy  day,  is  too  evident  to  demand  illustra- 
tion. If  any  proof  on  this  subject  could  be 
needed,  the  visible  connexion  between  such  wor- 
ship and  a  high  toned  piety,  whether  in  commu- 
nities or  in  individuals,  would  abundantly  sup- 
ply it.  No  man  can  depreciate  the  public  devo- 
tions of  the  Sabbath  without  casting  contem23t 
at  once  upon  God's  appointments  and  human 
experience. 

2.  But  there  are  more  private  means  of 
nourishing  piety  which  befit  all  days,  and  es- 
pecially those  which  are  devoted  to  spiritual 
profit.     Among  these  are  the  reading  of  the 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  141 

Scriptures,  secret  meditation  and  prayer,  and 
the  various  acts  of  family  devotion.  And  these 
home  duties  of  the  Sabbath,  like  those  that 
are  more  public,  not  only  have  the  warrant  of 
divine  law,  but  are  identified  with  the  whole 
history  of  spiritual  religion. 

But  these  two  forms  of  Sabbath  piety  are 
so  well  known  and  practicable,  that  no  sincere 
soul  is  in  danger  of  mistaking  them.  A  more 
interesting  question  remains :  Are  there  any 
other  legitimate  means  of  hallowing  the  day, 
that  lie  outside  of  these  more  formal  religious 
acts  ?  Is  the  whole  Sabbath  to  be  absorbed 
in  offices  of  devotion  ?  Is  it  to  begin  and  pro- 
ceed and  end  under  the  awe  of  a  conscious  and 
direct  approach  to  God  ?  Surely  not.  A  good 
man  indeed,  spends  all  his  days  and  especially 
his  Sabbaths,  as  in  God's  sight.  Love,  and 
ftiith,  and  reverence  take  perpetual  note  of  his 
presence.  But  formal  devotion  is  more  than 
the  indulgence  of  these  emotions.  It  is  the 
most  serious  and  responsible  appeal  of  a  soul  to 
its  maker.  It  is  the  highest  act  both  of  intellect 
and   feeling.     Our   minds  were   not  meant  to 


142  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

bold  themselves  perpetually  to  that  highest 
exercise.  It  belongs  to  other  beings,  "con- 
tinually to  cry  holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God  of 
Sabaoth."  Accordingly,  through  the  week 
at  least,  we  have  to  do  with  worldly  things 
which,  while  they  do  not  need  to  withdraw  us 
from  the  presence  or  thought  of  God,  do  of 
necessity  interrupt  our  direct  devotions.  And 
even  upon  the  Sabbath,  both  our  mental  con- 
stitution and  our  relations  to  outward  things 
demand  frequent  intermission  in  the  exercise 
of  worshijD.  Nor  is  this  necessity  to  be  re- 
gretted. It  is  a  part  of  God's  plan,  which  is 
the  wisest  one.  We  are  to  be  religious  as 
men — not  as  angels.  Our  humility,  our  peni- 
tence, our  gratitude,  our  faith,  our  joy,  our 
very  hope  of  heaven,  all  take  color  from  the 
actual  condition  in  which  we  are.  God  touches 
us  with  providence  and  grace,  at  every  point 
of  our  contact  with  surrounding  things.  And 
thus  every  object  of  wholesome  interest  has  to 
a  pious  soul,  a  voice  for  God.  These  men 
have  made  the  saddest  of  blunders  who  have 
withdrawn  themselves  from  the  world,  in  order 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  143 

to  get  nearer  to  heaven.  The  ladder  that  scales 
heaven  has  its  foot  on  earth.  The  pilgrim 
weary  with  a  common  journey,  and  anxious 
with  common  cares,  gets  from  his  pillow  of 
stone,  the  vision  of  ascending  and  descending 
angels.  The  Sabbath  itself,  with  what  taste 
of  heaven  there  is  in  it,  does  not  transport  us 
thither  ;  but  brings  heaven  down  to  us.  "  The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man  ; "  and  there  is  no 
delicate  taste,  no  generous  affection,  no  warm 
desire  of  his  regenerated  nature,  to  which  that 
holy  day  with  its  great  thought  of  God  recon- 
ciled in  Jesus  Christ,  does  not  appeal.  Grace 
strings  the  harp  again  ;  and  the  Sabbath  comes 
OT^r  it  like  a  breath  from  heaven,  and  every 
string  gives  music. 

How  well  the  holiness  of  the  day  of  rest 
blends  with  thoughts  and  deeds  of  kindness, 
our  Saviour  has  been  careful  to  teach  us.  And 
no  one  can  think  of  the  countless  activities  of 
Christian  charity  which  that  day  quickens  in 
the  home  and  the  Sunday  school,  in  the  cham- 
ber of  sickness,  and  among  the  abodes  of  igno- 
rance and  vice,  without  blessing  God  for  Sab- 


144  THE    DUTIES    OP    THE    SABBATH. 

bath  mercy,  l)otli  in  tlie  naaie  of  "  bim  that 
gives  and  him  that  takes." 

That  the  reverent  contemplation  of  God's 
works  may  kindle  Sabbath  joy  and  praise,  is 
proclaimed  by  the  whole  church,  as  often  as 
she  sings  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handy- 
work."  The  whole  creation  has  no  wall  so 
blank,  that  a  spirit  of  love  and  faith  cannot 
open  through  it  a  way  into  the  chambers  of 
imagery.  In  the  very  repose  and  silence  of 
the  Sabbath,  men  sooner  detect  the  footsteps 
and  the  voice  of  God.  The  light  of  his  coun- 
tenance falls  upon  the  landscape  like  a  second 
sun.  The  outlines  are  clearer,  the  colors  are 
fairer,  the  reaches  are  longer;  and  when  at 
length  the  still  horizon  stretches  away  toward 
the  evening  sky,  far,  far  beyond  it,  beneath  the 
flaming  lines  of  sunset  clouds  we  look  into  the 
calm  clear  depth  of  heaven.  Destroy  the 
spiritual  Sabbath,  and  even  nature  mourns 
over  her  glory  departed.  You  have  left  us 
the  earth,  but  no  memory  of  Eden.  You  have 
left  us  the  staring  foreground  ;  but  where  is  the 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  145 

dear  distant  background  witli  its  visions  of 
rest?  We  hear  the  animated  din  of  fields 
and  woods ;  but  where  is  the  harmonious  under- 
tone that  shall  weave  it  into  praise?  Men 
boast  of  their  Sunday  liberty,  and  pity  the 
Christian  who  has  lost  it ;  and  while  they  range 
the  world  like  a  prison  yard,  he  finds  it  a  court 
of  heaven. 

And  so  of  every  object  of  human  interest 
that  can  nourish  true  piety.  Let  a  man  really 
love  a  spiritual  Sabbath,  and  it  becomes  to 
him  on  every  hand,  a  day,  not  of  constraint, 
but  of  freedom.  He  enters  it  not  as  one  enters 
a  hospital  where  every  touch  is  contagion  ; 
but  as  he  enters  a  garden,  to  get  the  most  from 
it.  Home,  children,  friends,  books,  nature,  hope, 
memory, 

"  All  thoughts,  all  passions,  all  delights, 
Whatever  stirs  this  mortal  frame," 

SO  that  they  have  a  true  voice  for  God  and 
Christ,  are  free  to  utter  it.  The  world,  in  spite 
of  sin,  is  God's  and  not  Satan's.  "  More  are 
they  that  ai-e  for  us,  than  all  they  that  can  be 

against  us."     ''  Heaven  and  earth  are  full  of 

7 


146  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

tlie  majesty  of  his  glory."  The  Sabbath  like 
a  shekina  lights  up  this  temple  ;  and  while 
"  all  his  works  praise  him,  his  saints  bless  him." 
But  the  unconstrained  and  cheerful  Sabbath 
for  which  we  plead,  must  not  be  perverted  to 
license  or  indulgence.  To  prevent  this,  there 
are  three  obvious  restrictions  on  which  we  need 
to  insist. 

1.  The  first  of  these  has  been  more  than 
implied  already.  No  man  is  entitled  to  pass 
by  God's  means  of  Sabbatli  improvement,  for 
the  sake  of  others  which  he  may  think  better. 
The  sjDirit  which  neglects  public  worship  for 
private,  or  the  instruction  of  revelation  to  find 
"  sermons  in  stones,  and  books  in  the  running 
brooks,"  sets  out  with  contempt  of  God's  ex- 
press will,  and  only  pretends  to  honour  his  day. 

2.  The  spiritual  designs  of  the  Sabbath  are 
to  be  conscientiously  pursued.  Its  employments 
must  be  chosen,  not  because  they  are  pleasant, 
but  because  they  are  believed  to  tend  to  the 
highest  religious  duty  and  advantage.    And, 

3.  No  man  is  entitled  to  make  his  Sabbath- 
keeping  a  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  sin- 


THE    DUTIES    OP   THE    SABBATH.  14:7 

cere  souls.  Mere  cavils  and  fault-findinors  a 
conscientious  man  can  afford  to  despise ;  but 
he  has  no  right  to  use  his  liberty  in  misleading 
or  bewildering  the  tender  consciences  of  God's 
true  children.  Even  the  prejudices  and  er- 
rors of  earnest  piety  are  to  be  opposed,  not 
by  mere  assault,  but  by  the  careful  explanation 
as  well  as  adoption  of  the  "more  excellent 
way." 

Within  these  limits  the  Sabbath  is  a  day  of 
freedom  and  delight.  The  mistakes  of  its 
friends,  as  well  as  the  hatred  of  its  enemies, 
have  represented  it  as  a  day  of  gloom  and 
austerity.  A  true  Sabbath  is  just  as  gloomy 
as  is  true  piety ;  just  as  gloomy  as  a  heart  can 
be,  that  is  at  peace  with  God  and  assured  of 
heaven,  that  hears  the  voice  of  a  loving  Father 
in  every  mercy,  and  sees  his  hand  in  all  his  works. 
It  is  true,  that  with  all  this  experience  of  faith 
and  joy,  the  Sabbath  will  mingle  confessions  of 
sin  and  tears  of  repentance,wailings  of  grief  and 
prayers  for  deliverance.  But  the  Sabbath  does 
not  make  the  sins  or  the  sorrows  ;  it  only  takes 
them  to  a  compassionate  Saviour  for  relief:  and 


148  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

the  highest  pitch  of  all  its  ecstacy  is  just  at  that 
point  Avhere  "the  sorrow  is  turned  into  joy." 
Would  that  all  those  who  hate  or  dread  the 
day,  could  have  a  fair  experience  of  its  spiri- 
tual delights.  What  unknown  refreshment, what 
expansion,  what  satisfaction  it  should  bring 
them  !  It  should  lie  across  their  rough  and 
shaded  pathway  like  a  gleam  of  sunshine  upon 
green  pastures  and  still  waters.  Men  would 
find  themselves  in  a  new  world,  if  every  week 
should  roll  it  into  this  belt  of  heavenly  light. 

But  most  men  have  no  proper  enjoyment  or 
regard  of  the  Sabbath,  and  this  fact  devolves 
a  new  obligation  upon  thos^  who  sanctify 
the  day ;  namely,  that  of  teaching  others  to 
sanctify  it.  This  duty  will  assume  different 
forms  according  to  our  relations  to  those  whom 
we  seek  to  benefit.     I  speak. 

First,  of  Sabbath,  duties  toward  children  ;  a 
topic,  the  mere  mention  of  whicli  will  not  fail 
to  excite  the  interest  of  every  Christian  parent. 
As  we  attempt  to  discuss  it,  let  us  keep  in 
mind  tke  cardinal  principle  already  asserted, 
that  the  end  to  be  gained  is  not  the  establish- 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  119 

inent  of  a  routine  of  Sabbatli  acts,  but  tlie  en- 
kindling of  a  hearty  love  for  the  spiritual  uses 
of  the  day. 

The  fii^t  step  toward  such  a  result,  is  to 
inculcate  reverence  for  the  day  as  an  insti- 
tution of  God ;  and  the  chief  means  to  that 
end,  must  be  the  practical  reverence  which 
is  shown  it  by  the  parent  himself  Example 
speaks  not  only  louder  than  words,  but  sooner 
than  words.  Our  young  children  with  their 
first  intelligence  are  to  observe  that  there  is 
one  day  that  differs  broadly  from  all  other 
days,  in  its  employments,  and  jDleasures,  and 
words ;  a  cheerful  day,  yet  a  day  of  order  and 
quiet.  Then  when,  at  length,  they  ask  us, 
"  What  mean  ye  by  this  service  V  let  us  tell 
them  lio^v^  God  rested  on  the  seventh  day  and 
hallowed  it ;  how  our  Kedeemer,  by  his  resur- 
rection, has  given  double  sacredness  to  the 
Christian  Sabbath ;  let  us  show  them  what 
uses  it  serves,  and  thus  how  God's  command  and 
our  advantage  conspire  to  make  the  whole  of 
it  sacred.  But  the  instruction  will  avail  noth- 
ing without  the  example  ;  and  just  here  begins 


150  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

the  history  of  many  a  misguided  household. 
If  Christian  parents  degrade  the  day  by  un- 
becoming acts  or  pleasures,  no  orthodox  in- 
structions will  bring  their  children  to  keep  it 
holy.  If  the  secular  ]3aper  be  admitted  to 
the  dwelling ;  if  the  Sunday  dinner  become  a 
feast ;  if  common  worldly  topics  come  freely 
into  the  conversation,  and  words  of  piety 
scarcely  at  all ;  if  common  books  be  read,  and 
common  visits  made  or  welcomed,  the  case  is 
decided.  You  may  train  your  children  to  a 
formal,  decent  keeping  of  the  day,  but  if 
they  shall  either  know  or  love  a  spiritual 
Sabbath,  it  shall  be  by  other  means  than 
yours. 

But  though  reverence  may  be  the  foundation 
of  love,  it  is  not  the  superstructure.  How 
shall  children  be  brought  to  love  the  Sabbath  ? 
Evidently  by  learning  that  it  is  worth  loving. 
And  here,  again,  the  lesson  is  to  be  taught  first 
by  parental  exam23le.  No  emotion  is  more 
contagious  than  joy,  and  Christian  joy  within 
the  narrow  confines  of  a  home  is  sure  to  diftuse 
itself    Let  those  who  sing  with  us, ''  Welcome, 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  151 

sweet  day  of  rest,"  see  tlie  welcome  on  our 
fkces,  and  it  will  he  reflected  from  theirs.  Let 
the  Sabbath  prayer  be  fragrant  with  gi'atitude 
and  praise.  Let  us  be  "  glad  when  they  say 
unto  us,  let  us  go  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord." 
When  we  come  from  our  closets,  let  our  faces 
shine  with  the  light  we  have  borrowed  from 
God,  and  those  who  watch  us  will  not  need  to 
be  told  that  the  Sabbath  is  to  be  loved.  Our 
Sabbath  joy  will  go  down  to  our  children,  as 
we  find  in  our  gardens,  that  where  pansies 
grew,  pansies  grow  again. 

But  can  we  do  more  than  this  ?  Children's 
joys  and  men's  joys  are  not  quite  the  same. 
Can  a  holy  Sabbath  be  made  a  children's  day  ? 
It  can,  if  piety  be  intended  for  children.  In- 
deed, their  sensitive  natures  respond  most  easi- 
ly to  every  religious  influence.  Who,  that  is 
blessed  with  recollections  of  a  childhood 
passed  in  a  Christian  home,  will  set  any  of 
those  dear  memories  above  such  as  cluster 
around  the  Bible  stories  learned  by  heart  from 
mothers'  lips ;  the  sweet  hymns  which  those 
same  lips  sang  to  tunes,  that  have  ever  since 


152  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

seemed  to  liave  tlie  melody  of  heaven  in  tliem ; 
tlie  wonderful  pictures  of  the  Wicket  Gate,  and 
the  Delectable  Mountains.  But  every  Christian 
parent  knows  how  raj)idly  his  material  of  relig- 
ious instruction  and  entertainment  has  increased 
in  these  late  years.  Every  form  of  human  enter- 
prise, and  knowledge,  and  skill,  has  employed 
itself  in  illustrating  to  the  ear,  and  eye,  and 
mind  of  childhood,  the  truth  and  excellence  of 
our  religion.  Were  learning  and  art  ever  so 
worthily  employed,  as  in  pouring  into  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  little  children  the  light  and  mel- 
ody of  the  gospel  ? 

I  need  not  say  how  largely  the  Sunday-school, 
when  wisely  conducted,  aids  in  making  the  Sab- 
bath interesting  to  the  young.  Let  the  host  of 
earnest  men  and  women,  whom  this  good  work 
employs,  be  careful  to  subordinate  all  entertain- 
ment to  the  holy  uses  of  the  day,  and  not  the 
day  to  mere  entertainment ;  and  they  shall  not 
only  be  valuable  helpers  to  those  who  hallow  it 
in  their  homes,  but  they  shall  make  the  Sabbath 
venerable  and  lovely  to  multitudes,  who  but  for 
them  would  have  been  trained  to  dishonour  it. 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  153 

But  tliere  is  one  chief  means  of  winning;  tlie 
hearts  of  children  to  the  Sabbath,  that  needs 
to  be  nsed  more  commonly  and  heartily.  I 
speak  of  cheerful,  simple,  religious  conversa- 
tion. What  a  wonderful  2)ower  is  that  of 
speech,  by  whicli  one  soul  pours  out  all  its 
wealth  upon  another,  making  the  very  air  to 
throb  with  truth,  and  feeling,  and  holy  imj^ul- 
ses  !  Was  ever  so  vast  a  power  so  lavishly  con- 
ferred ?  If  only  one  man  in  a  generation  pos- 
sessed it,  the  rest  would  count  him  almost  di- 
vine. But  all  men  are  furnished  for  it ;  near- 
ly all  times  and  places  give  scope  for  it ;  all 
motives  stimulate  it,  and  all  hearts  are  ojDcn 
to  it.  Yet  what  preeminent  j)ower  belongs  to 
holy  speech,  when  uttered  and  enforced  by  un- 
questioned piety  and  love  in  the  Sabbath  quiet 
of  a  Christian  home  ?  Besides,  what  inex- 
haustible material  of  entertaining  religious 
conversation  is  within  the  reach  of  every 
Christian  parent.  Think  of  the  Bible  alone, 
with  its  touching,  simple  narratives,  oj)en  to  the 
comments  of  a  child,  and  its  deeper  truths  and 
allusions,  out  of  which  the  plainest  adult  Intel- 


154  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

lect  can,  Avitli  the  commonest  helps,  draw  end- 
less interest.  Think  of  the  stores  of  j^jrofita- 
ble  knowledge  embraced  in  religious  biogra- 
phy ;  in  the  eai'ly  history  of  the  chmxh  and  her 
martyrs,  and  especially  in  her  present  glorions 
enterprises.  If  themes  like  these  could  ever  be- 
come ])arren,  what  affecting  topics  remain  in 
the  history  and  condition  of  every  household. 
There  are  the  afflictions  that  God  sent,  and  the 
ends  that  they  served ;  the  brother,  or  sister, 
or  grandparent,  that  God  took  to  heaven  ;  the 
last  sickness  that  still  needs  healing,  or  the 
mercy  that  has  healed  it  already ;  the  absent 
father,  or  brother,  brought  home  in  safety  ;  the 
blessings  that  are  new  every  morning ;  sweet 
sleep  and  healthful  waking ;  food  and  shelter, 
and  the  countless  comforts  of  a  Christian 
home,  which  all  come  from  God.  Then  add 
to  these  things  the  grace  of  the  Redeemer,  as 
a  delighted  experience  can  describe  it ;  his 
willingness  to  save,  and  the  abounding  proof 
of  it ;  the  need  of  Christ,  which  a  child  can 
feel,  and  that  precious  promise  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  those  that  ask  him,  which  our  Sa- 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  155 

viour,  by  his  touching  comparison,  has  made 
the  very  theme  for  a  parent's  lips.  Then  think 
of  heaven,  and  all  the  eager  questions  which  a 
child's  mind  starts  concerning  it,  and  of  all  the 
hopes  that  cluster  around  the  place,  where 
some  of  the  family,  either  young  or  old,  have 
gone  already,  and  where  all  may  meet  at 
last :  and  shall  a  Christian  parent,  that  has  a 
tongue,  be  in  doubt  how  he  may  make  the 
Sabbath  a  delight  in  his  dwelling  ?  The  foun- 
tain that  should  water  your  garden  bubbles 
high  up  upon  the  hill-side.  Lead  the  stream 
and  let  it  flow.  Open  your  own  lips.  Christian 
parent,  among  your  children.  And  if  your 
heart  is  empty,  let  Christ  supply  it.  If  the 
inconsistent  week  makes  you  dumb  upon  the 
Sabbath,  cure  the  inconsistency.  You  are  ap- 
pointed to  be  the  light  of  the  dwelling,  and  if 
the  light  that  is  in  it  be  darkness,  how  great  is 
that  darkness  ! 

In  our  attempts  to  bring  our  children  to  a 
true  enjoyment  of  the  Sabbath,  there  are  two 
cautions  which,  I  think,  we  should  steadily  keep 
in  mind. 


156  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

One  is  this :  that  until  they  heartily  love 
the  Sabbath,  tliey  will  be  sure  to  love  some- 
thing; and  exuberant,  childish  feeling  will 
seek  expression  on  that  day  as  well  as  upon 
any  other.  We  cannot  leave  it  unrestricted ; 
and  to  restrain  it  needlessly,  will  make  our 
children  either  rel)els  or  hypocrites.  Let  us 
suppose,  then,  that  the  most  careful  and  S23irit- 
ual  attempts  to  win  a  child  to  the  love  of  the 
day  have  failed;  then  w^hat  shall  authority 
do  ?  It  is  very  plain  that  it  may  exact  of  him 
conformity  to  so  much  of  the  Sabbath  laAv  of 
the  household,  as  is  clearly  enjoined  by  God 
himself.  This  definition  will  include  attend- 
ance upon  public  worship ;  for  that  service  is 
formally  demanded,  not  only  of  parents,  but 
of  "  their  little  ones."  It  will  also  include  par- 
ticipation in  the  Sabbath  worship  of  the  fami- 
ly ;  "  it  shall  be  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  in 
all  your  dwellings."  This  same  command,  as 
well  as  the  organic  law  of  the  day,  will  require 
a  Christian  parent  to  withhold  his  child  from 
work,  and  by  an  implication  too  plain  to  be 
mistaken,  it  will  require  him  to  forbid  such 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  157 

employments,  or  sports,  as  must  manifestly 
frustrate  the  designs  of  the  day,  either  for  the 
child  himself,  or  for  the  household  which  he 
would  disturb.  But  no  law  of  God,  and  no 
principle  of  Christian  prudence,  warrants  the 
perversion  of  the  Sabbath  into  a  day  of  tasks. 
The  compulsory  conning  of  hymns,  or  cate- 
chisms, or  of  Scripture  itself,  is  no  proper 
means  of  honouring  the  Sabbath,  or  of  learn- 
ing to  honour  it.  A  man,  when  most  in  love 
with  that  holy  day,  would  never  think  of 
gratifying  his  love  by  the  mechanical  memoriz- 
ing of  a  chapter.  And  such  study  is  a  child's 
work.  It  belongs  to  the  w^eek.  To  exact  it 
of  him  on  the  Sabbath,  is  at  once  to  profane  the 
day  and  to  make  him  hate  it.  Well-meaning 
parents  have  made  great  mistakes  in  this  direc- 
tion, and  loaded  the  Sabbath  with  such  griev- 
ous burdens,  that  children  have  learned  to 
dread  the  thought  even  of  heaven,  when  they 
have  been  told  that  heaven  should  be  like  a  Sab- 
bath. The  true  office  of  parental  piety  is  to  make 
the  day  a  delight ;  and  where  it  cannot  succeed 
in  that  effort,  it  at  least  will  not  make  it  a  terror. 


158  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

We  need  to  remember  still  fortlier,  that  even 
after  our  young  children  shall  have  come  to 
love  the  spiritual  Sabbath,  they  will  love  it  as 
children,  and  not  as  men.  The  same  sedate- 
ness  of  feeling  and  demeanour,  that  years  and 
experience  may  have  produced  in  us,  would 
not  become  them  even  on  the  Sabbath.  Let 
us  be  glad  and  thankful,  if  they  give  to  God 
and  to  his  day  the  cheerful,  effervescing  love 
of  childhood. 

But  no  discussion  of  the  household  duties 
of  the  Sabbath  ought  to  end,  without  at  least 
an  allusion  to  the  special  encouragements 
which  both  God's  covenant  and  all  experi- 
ence give  to  those  parents  who  heartily  dis- 
charge them.  I  have  supposed,  just  now,  that 
that  such  duties  might  fail  of  their  end.  But 
in  truth  it  is  the  misdirected  or  inconsistent  ef- 
fort that  does  not  succeed.  God's  plans  are 
wise  and  complete  ;  and  there  is  no  sweet  in- 
fluence of  grace  that  does  not  touch  the  suscep- 
tible feelings  of  a  little  child,  in  the  midst  of  a 
holy,  cheerful.  Christian  Sabbath.  I  know 
what  depravity  is  even  in  a  child's  heart ;  but 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  159 

grace  and  God's  covenant  are  stronger.  And 
I  cannot  doubt  that  the  godless  children  of 
Christian  parents,  are  the  children  of  parents 
who,  in  the  one  direction  or  the  other,  have 
perverted  the  Sabbath  from  its  design.  They 
have  hedged  it  about  with  restrictions  and 
terrors,  and  so  have  taken  the  love  of  God 
out  of  it ;  or,  what  is  even  worse,  they  have 
broken  down  its  defenses,  and  trampled  it  with 
worldliness,  and  so  have  robbed  it  of  all  au- 
thority. Is  it  not  possible  that  the  frequent 
criticisms  uj^on  the  children  of  ministers,  so  far 
as  they  are  just  at  all,  have  found  their  occa- 
sion in  the  fact,  that  the  minister's  Sabbath  is 
too  commonly  suffered  to  withdraw  his  mind 
from  the  sacred  needs  of  his  own  household  ? 
It  is  a  fearful  sacrifice,  and  no  j^ublic  duties  are 
entitled  to  exact  it.  You  who  have  not  even  a 
temj)tation  to  make  it,  take  heed  that  the  home 
of  your  children  be  brightened  with  the  light 
of  a  happy,  holy  Sabbath-day.  God's  blessing 
is  in  no  other  home  ;  and  from  such  a  home  it 
never  dej^arts. 

It   remains   that   we   consider,   in   the   last 


llJO  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

place,  Sabbatli  duty  toward  the  enemies  of  a 
spiritual  Sabbatli. 

There  is  no  land  in  which  common  hu- 
man depravity  does  not  find  motive  enough, 
to  set  itself  against  a  holy  day.  But  well- 
known  causes  have  congregated  in  our  coun- 
try a  host  of  men,  whose  enmity  to  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath,  has  been  developed  in  every 
possible  school,  and  into  every  shaj)e.  How 
wicked  and  greedy  men  contrive  to  stimulate 
their  hatred ;  how  an  infidel  Sunday  press 
arms  and  leads  it,  and  how  demagogues  em- 
ploy it,  does  not  need  to  be  told.  Nor  can  we 
be  blind  to  the  evils  with,  w^hicli  an  influence 
so  mighty  and  malignant  invades  or  threatens 
religion,  and  social  order,  and  liberty  itself. 
We  may  well  doubt,  moreover,  whether  those 
who  are  now  w^aging  our  most  koly  war,  when 
they  shall  at  lengtb  be  disbanded,  will  give 
evidence  that  tlie  habits  of  the  camp  have 
strengthened  in  them  the  power  of  those  aifec- 
tions,  which,  welcome  with  the  greatest  relisli 
God's  day  of  rest.  And  tlius  the  question, 
which  we  now  approach,  assumes  the  grandest 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  IGl 

importance  in  the  estimate  both  of  piety  and 
of  patriotism  :  What  duties  does  the  Sabbath 
law  enjoin  toward  the  multitude  who  hate  a 
holy  day  ? 

A  minute  answer  of  such  a  question  could 
only  be  shaped  by  special  circumstances.  But 
the  general  principles  that  define  those  duties, 
I  think,  are  plain. 

Let  us  remember  here,  again,  that  the  end 
to  be  gained,  is  not  the  constraint  of  men  to  a 
set  of  formal  Sabbath  acts ;  but  th^  education 
of  the  whole  community  to  a  hearty  love  and 
use  of  the  spiritual  Sabbath.  Now,  the  admis- 
sion of  such  a  principle  may  seem,  at  first 
view,  to  limit  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of 
the  day  to  mere  argument  and  jDcrsuasion. 
And  the  limitation  would  be  real,  if  its  en- 
emies were  contented  with  refusing:  to  love  it. 
With  such  an  evil,  mere  authority  has  no  war- 
rant to  meddle.  But  if  men  not  only  dislike 
the  Sabbath,  but  assault  it,  then  the  ofhce 
of  its  friends  is  first  of  all  to  defend  it ;  and 
they  are  held  to  this  duty  by  a  regard  not 
only  of  their  own  interests,  but  equally  of  the 


102  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

interests  of  tlie  mistaken  men  whom  they  seek 
to  restrain.  Thus,  when  the  law  of  God,  both 
in  his  Book  and  in  our  nature,  requii'es  that  the 
seventh  day  be  given  to  rest,  it  is  as  fairly  the 
province  of  human  law  to  defend  that  day  from 
the  exactions  of  work,  as  it  is  to  prevent  any 
other  fundamental  wrong  to  individuals  or  so- 
ciety. And  since  the  mere  cessation  of  ordinary 
labour  would  leave  the  Sabbath  an  open  field 
to  men's  passions  and  vices,  it  becomes  the  of- 
fice of  the  same  legislation  that  secures  the  day 
to  rest,  to  prevent  its  perversion  to  a  class  of 
pleasures  more  wasting  and  dangerous  than 
Sabbath  labour  itself  This  double  restraint 
would  be  severe  if  men  had  no  other  resource 
than  labour  or  vice  ;  but  so  long  as  a  Sab- 
bath withheld  both  from  toil. and  indulgence, 
leaves  them  still  within  easy  reach  of  the  high- 
est and  most  satisfying  pleasures  of  intellect 
and  feeling,  the  human  law  infringes  no  human 
right  while  it  stands  the  guardian  of  Sabbath 
rest  and  Sabbath  morality.  But  when  human 
law  changes  this  attitude  of  defense  into  one 
of  assault,  and  undertakes,  not  to  guard  the 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  163 

civil  Sabbatli  from  the  attacks  of  human  pas- 
sion, Lilt  to  fasten  the  spiritual  Sabbath  u2:)on 
men's  consciences,  it  undertakes  a  work  at  once 
tyrannical  and  hopeless.  The  duty  of  the 
friends  of  the  Sabbath,  then,  is  simply  this : 
to  stand  a2:ainst  the  violence  of  those  who  at- 
tack  it,  as  they  stand  against  the  violence 
of  theft,  or  murder,  or  any  other  crime ;  name- 
ly, by  law  :  but  to  approach  the  hearts  of  those 
who  hate  it,  with  the  only  power  that  can  win 
a  heart ;  namely,  with  kind  persuasion.  Men 
will  love  the  Sabbath,  not  at  the  bidding 
of  authority,  but  under  the  mightier  influence 
of  Christian  charity  and  the  grace  of  God. 

The  question  then  is.  How  shall  the  preju- 
diced multitudes  about  us  be  brous^ht  within 
the  scope  of  this  mighty  influence  ? 

The  first  thing,  evidently,  is  to  make 
them  know  what  the  SaT)bath  is.  The  friends 
and  the  enemies  of  that  day  are  like  two  par- 
ties of  Alpine  travellers  walking  upon  different 
levels.  These  are  in  the  clear  air,  with  all  the 
glories  of  the  everlasting  hills  around  them; 
and  those  are  beneath  the  mist,  without  a  sight 


104  TTIE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

of  tlie  eartli  or  of  tlie  sky.  Some  faintest  ca- 
dence of  our  far-off  song  falls  on  their  ears; 
but  they  neither  know  who  are  the  singers,  nor 
what  makes  them  sing.  The  first  thing  is  to 
bring  the  Sabbath  and  its  enemies  together. 
If  you  ask  me  how  this  shall  be  done,  I  will 
]iot  reply  with  over-confidence  ;  but  some 
thoughts  like  these  are  in  my  mind  to-night. 
I  remember  how  God  has  compacted  in  his 
gospel  all  the  influences  of  truth,  and  law,  and 
love,  and  motive  that  are  best  adapted  to 
reach  and  sway  the  souls  of  men  ;  how  he  has 
adapted  that  truth  to  vivid  utterance  and  en- 
forcement by  the  lips  and  sympathies  of  living 
preachers ;  how  the  Kedeemer,  who  is  the  cen- 
tre and  substance  of  it  all,  has  left  with  those 
preachers  the  pledge  of  his  perpetual  presence 
and  grace ;  and  I  ask  myself.  Can  the  Sabbath, 
the  day  of  the  gospel,  be  brought  close  to  the 
hearts  of  its  enemies  in  any  other  Avay  so  natu- 
ral, so  practicable,  so  full  of  promise,  as  by 
sending  among  them  the  fervid  utterances  of 
the  gospel  itself?  I  know  how  much  has  been 
done  in  this  direction ;  but  I  reflect  upon  none 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  165 

of  the  excellent  men  wlio  have  sustained  or 
conducted  those  efforts,  when  I  say  that  they 
have  not  been  made  upon  a  scale  worthy  of  the 
religion  that  has  promj)ted  them,  or  of  the  mo- 
mentous ends  at  which  they  have  aimed.  Ava- 
rice and  vice  sjDare  no  cost  nor  pains  in  making 
their  Sabbath  haunts  allurino;  to  their  victims. 
We,  too,  when  we  rear  our  Sabbath  temples 
for  ourselves,  are  careful  to  make  them  pleasing 
to  every  taste.  Shall  those  who  love  neither 
the  day  nor  its  worship  be  allured  from  their 
sins,  just  by  the  open  door  of  a  preaching- 
room  ?  If  men's  souls  and  God's  honour  are 
worth  the  sacrifice,  why  should  not  many  a 
building  as  inviting  as  this — planted  in  the 
darkest  parts  of  our  city,  where  Satan's  seat  is 
— tempt  into  its  ample  aisles  the  multitudes 
whose  steps  take  hold  on  death  ?  Would  it 
be  too  grand  a  vestibule  of  heaven  ?  Or  have 
they  who  already  understand  the  spiritual 
glories  of  our  gospel  more  need  of  this  appeal 
to  sense  than  those  who  neither  love  it  nor 
know  it  ?  Let  that  noble  army  of  Christian 
men  in  this  city,  who  hold  their  wealth  for 


106  THE    DUTIES    OP    THE    SABBATH. 

Christ,  enquire  whether  they  cannot  serve  his 
cause  and  the  Sabbath's  by  offering  to  the  poor 
and  to  the  prejudiced  such  places  of  Sabbath 
worship  as  shall  win  them  to  honour  the  day. 

But  the  place  is  not  all,  nor  half.    Every  man 
knows  that  the  same  great  facts  and  principles 
may  be  set  forth  with  varying  interest.     The 
gospel  is  a  system  of  truth  to  be  presented  by 
men  to  men.     Its  success,  indeed,  it  must  al- 
ways owe  to  the  grace  of  God ;  but  God  still 
makes  the  human  qualities  of  the  preacher  the 
very  channels  of  his  grace.     When  one  would 
sway  a  jury  in  behalf  of  his  important  cause, 
he  counts  the  learning  and  the  logic  and  the 
eloquence  of  his  counsel  so  many  means  to  the 
desired   end;   and   all   experience  shows  that 
men's  hearts  are  not  so  accessible  to  the  truths 
of  religion  that  all  lips  can  announce  them 
with  equal  success.     I  disparage  none  of  those 
who,  in  this  city  or  elsewhere,  have  imitated 
their  great  Master  and  preached  the  gosj)el  to 
the  poor.    In  most  respects  they  are  the  equals 
of  their  brethren  ;  and  in  some,  their  suj)eriors. 
But  this  task  of  winning  reluctant  men  to  the 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  167 

regard  of  tlie  Sabbath  requires  qualifications 
not  like  tbose  of  other  men,  but  far  in  ad- 
vance of  them.  The  man  that  leads  the  for- 
lorn hoj)e  must  be  every  inch  a  soldier.  And 
here  the  conflict  is  to  be  with  ignorance,  with 
vice,  with  life-long  habit,  with  national  jijreju- 
dice,  with  infidelity,  with  perverted  learning, 
with  eagle-eyed  sagacity,  with  busy  "  tongues 
set  on  fire  of  hell."  Blessed  be  God  for  the 
help  of  his  Spirit ;  but  still  send  your  best  man. 
We  do  this  with  the  far-off  heathen ;  why  not 
do  it  with  the  heathen  at  home  ?  I  think  of 
such  a  man  as  Henry  Marty n  Scudder,  lifting 
up  his  clarion  voice,  every  Sabbath  day,  within 
some  graceful  building  as  large  as  those  clear 
tones  could  fill.  In  what  godless  corner  of 
this  city  would  you  plant  him,  where  the  popu- 
lation would  not  crowd  to  hear  the  gospel  from 
his  lips  ? 

But  you  will  confound  my  argument  by  the 
illustration  I  have  chosen,  and  tell  me  that  such 
rare  talents  are  not  to  be  commanded  for  the 
work.  Then  tell  me  the  grander  work  that 
may  command  them ;  where  shall  the  sword  be 


168  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

sharpest,  at  the  hilt  or  at  the  point  ?  Shall 
your  Pauls,  if  you  have  them,  be  most  needed 
amono;  the  converts  or  amono;  the  heathen  ? 
And  if  in  the  ministry,  as  everywhere,  talent 
and  energy  can  win  their  reward,  shall  the 
man  who  has  them,  send  himself  ujDon  his  mis- 
sion at  the  sacrifice  of  his  common  comforts  ? 
Or  shall  those  into  whose  laps  God  pours 
yearly  treasure  see  to  it  that  the  Sabbath's 
most  sacred  cause  is  served,  even  though  the 
labourer  receive  his  hire  ? 

But  I  am  granting  too  much.  The  neces- 
sary talents  are  not  so  rare.  An  emergency 
in  23olitics  will  call  forth  an  army  of  speakers 
who  can  hold  applauding  crowds  for  hours. 
And  is  there  so  little  material  of  human  in- 
terest in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  or  is  piety  so 
barren  of  the  elements  of  eloquence,  that  an 
earnest  church  can  open  more  pulpits  than  it 
can  worthily  fill?  It  cannot  be.  Make  the 
place,  and  it  will  make  the  man.  There  are 
preaching  in  our  land  to-day  scores  of  men  un- 
known to  fame,  whom  the  mere  consciousness 
of  standing  at  such  a  point  of  contact  between 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  1G9 

the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  kingdom  of 
Satan  would  kindle  into  a  power  of  manly  elo- 
quence of  which  neither  their  hearers  nor 
themselves  have  ever  dreamed.  The  experi- 
ment, I  know,  would  be  costly ;  and  theoretic 
objections  to  it  are  not  wanting.  But  it  has 
never  been  tried ;  and  in  such  a  cause  one 
chance  of  success  out  of  twenty  would  more 
than  warrant  the  trial.  Could  there  be  a 
fairer  field  for  it  than  is  offered  by  our  Ger- 
man pojDulation  of  more  than  a  hundred  thou- 
sand souls  ? 

But  it  is  fair  to  doubt  whether  our  Sabbath 
worship  in  our  own  sanctuaries  commends  the 
day  as  it  might.  Two  hundred  congregations 
of  Christians  meet  weekly  in  public  places  to 
utter  in  the  hearing  of  Grod  and  men  their  joy 
over  his  salvation.  Never  was  there  such  room 
for  human  gratitude  and  exultation ;  and  the 
very  office  of  the  day  is  to  give  them  utter- 
ance. With  the  sounds  of  labour  hushed,  the 
Sabbath  stands  forth  in  the  view  and  hearing 
of  men,  God's  witness  and  ours  to  the  excel- 
lence of  true    religion.     Our   public   worship 


170  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

especially,  brings  together  the  separate  rills  of 
gratitude  and  joy,  and  pours  them  along  in 
one  tide  of  praise.  Men  ought  to  hear  it  flow. 
I  think  it  was  an  error  that  has  taken  from  so 
many  of  our  congregations  the  privilege  of  ut- 
tering even  the  hearty  Amen.  I  am  sure  that 
it  is  by  something  worse  than  an  erl'or  that 
the  significant  duty  of  holy  song  is  deputed 
by  silent  multitudes  to  the  artistic  execution 
of  a  few  trained  voices.  Joy  does  not  speak 
by  proxy.  It  has  its  own  voice,  and  it  is  our 
shame  that  while  the  Sabbath  worship  of  the 
Jews,  uttered  amidst  sacrifices,  withheld  no 
token  of  ecstacy,  our  Sabbath  worship, 
prompted  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  restrains 
even  the  voice  of  singing.  It  stamps  religion 
as  tame,  if  not  as  gloomy.  It  contrasts  the 
Sabbath  in  the  saloon  with  the  Sabbath  in  the 
church — ^not,  as  it  should,  by  the  difference  be- 
tween the  pleasures  of  sense  and  the  joy  full 
of  glory — but,  so  far  as  a  worldly  man  can  see, 
by  the  difference  between  pleasure  and  no 
pleasure,  between  an  exhilaration  that  gives  a 
glow  to  the  cheek  and  fire  to  the  eye  and  fer- 


THE    DUTIES    OF   THE    SABBATH.  171 

vour  to  utterance,  and  a  cold  propriety  that 
hears — and  feels  nothinor.  "  Oh  bless  our  God, 
ye  people,  and  make  the  voice  of  his  j^jraise  to 
be  heard."  "  Let  us  come  before  his  presence 
with  thanksgiving,  and  show  ourselves  glad 
in  him  with  psalms."  Our  cheerful  worship 
should  *give  the  Sabbath  a  voice,  and  drown 
that  falsehood  that  calls  it  a  gloomy  day. 

But  the  friends  of  our  holy  day  have  other 
means  of  commending  it  to  its  enemies. 

And  chief  among  these  is  their  own  practical 
veneration  of  it.  In  every  community  that  can 
be  called  Christian,  the  Sabbath-keepers  hold 
the  first  place ;  they  take  precedence  of  all  other 
classes  in  intelligence,  in  morals,  in  thrift,  in  so- 
cial position.  Thus,  what  they  do  stands  out  in 
public  regard,  while  infidelity  and  vice  either 
skulk  in  corners,  or  else  pretend  to  a  currency 
which  even  the  multitudes  of  their  adherents 
cannot  command  for  them.  God  has  set  his 
city  on  the  hill ;  the  rest  must  build  below  it. 
It  also  follows  that  Christian  men  fix  the 
standard  of  morals  for  men  who  are  not  Chris- 
tians. To  raise  them  to  that  standard  is  indeed 


172  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

slow  work,  and  only  tlie  Spirit  of  God  can 
make  it  effectual.  But  it  is  a  great  thing  to 
show  what  virtue  is,  and  to  make  it  respectable. 
Where  religious  men  concur  both  in  definition 
and  in  practice,  the  law  is  pronounced,  and, 
in  the  abstract,  at  least,  all  men  accept  it.  In 
reference  to  what  point  of  morals  does  the 
Christian  church  stand  a  unit  upon  one  side, 
and  the  moral  sense  of  the  rest  of  the  commu- 
nity, or  of  any  considerable  part  of  it,  stand  up- 
on the  other  ? — The  Christian  estimate  of  the 
spiritual  Sabbath  will  shape  other  men's  esteem 
of  that  day,  just  as  soon  as  Christians  agree  in 
it,  and  live  up  to  it.  But  theory  and  practice 
must  go  together. 

When  it  is  known,  for  example,  that  the  in- 
dustry and  thrift  of  the  religious  class  are 
largely  represented  in  our  great  moneyed  cor- 
porations, the  community  may  fairly  demand 
that  their  religion  shall  control  the  capital,  and 
not  the  capital  their  religion.  And  if,  for  the 
sake  of  larger  dividends,  they  wink  at  a  sys- 
tem of  unremitting  labour,  which  leaves  their 
servants   no   Sabbath   rest  nor  Sabbath  wor- 


THE    DUTIES    OF    TlfE    SABBATH.  173 

sliip,  liow  shall  their  own  well-filled  j^ews 
compensate  for  that  inconsistency  before  God 
or  man?  "The  cries  of  the  labourers,  whose 
liire  is  ke23t  back,  enter  into  the  ears  of  the 
Lord  of  Sabaoth."  Does  God  care  more  for 
money  than  he  does  for  souls  ?  Or  will  those 
over-tasked  labourers  sooner  believe  the  lips 
that  reckon  the  Sabbath  above  all  price,  or 
the  hands  that  seize  their  Sabbath  to  turn  it 
into  gain  \ 

Just  so  if  the  Christian  family  that  rests  upon 
the  Sabbath  according  to  the  commandment, 
accords  no  Sabbath  rest  to  those  domestics  who 
may  serve  the  purposes  of  luxury  or  show, 
shall  its  estimate  of  the  day's  sacredness  be 
most  impressively  announced  in  the  rest  which 
it  takes,  or  in  the  labours  which  it  exacts  ?  Let 
us  remember  that  the  influence  of  these  practi- 
cal lessons  is  not  limited  to  the  narrow  circle 
within  which  they  are  given.  Those  who  load 
your  Sunday  tables  with  needless  viands,  or 
l^repare  the  Sunday  equipage  for  needless  jour- 
neys, will  make  no  secret  of  their  Sunday 
work ;  and  their  testimony  reaches  that  very 


17-i  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

class  who  most  need  to  be  won  to  reverence 
the  day.  Who  can  tell  wliat  contempt  and 
hatred  of  God's  holy  Sabbath  filter  down 
among  the  ignorant  and  prejudiced,  from 
homes  that  echo  with  Sabbath  songs  ?  And 
on  the  other  hand,  who  shall  measure  the  per- 
suasive influence  of  that  considerate  and  con- 
scientious piety,  which  in  so  many  households 
keeps  the  Sabbath  law  for  "  man-servant 
and  maid-servant,"  as  well  as  for  "son  and 
dauofhter  ?" 

In  truth,  it  is  quite  impossible  for  any 
good  man  to  make  his  Sabbath  thoughts 
or  acts  so  private,  that  they  shall  not  exert  a 
direct  and  powerful  influence  upon  the  public 
feeling.  His  sentiments  will  come  out  in  a 
hundred  incidental  ways.  In  conversation,  in 
Sabbath  intercourse  with  visitors,  in  his  con- 
duct on  journeys,  but  chiefly  in  the  impression 
he  makes  upon  his  own  children.  In  these  days 
of  enterprise  and  change,  no  man  can  foretell 
the  future  home  or  position  of  the  boy  at  his 
fireside.  When  a  chemist  would  produce  crys- 
tals, he  prepares  his  solution,  introduces  his 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  175 

nucleus^  and  soon  a  fine  needle  shoots  out  from 
the  centre  to  the  circumference ;  others  articu- 
hite  themselves  to  this,  and  so  the  jar  is  filled. 
The  child  who  is  learning  from  you  to  rever- 
ence and  love  the  Sabbath,  may  thirty  years 
hence  be  moulding  men's  opinions  and  23ractice 
a  thousand  miles  away,  in  the  centre  of  the 
broad  continent,  or  on  the  shore  of  the  Pacific. 
What  is  told  him  in  darkness,  he  shall  speak 
in  the  light ;  what  he  hears  in  the  ear,  he  shall 
proclaim  upon  the  housetops.     Those  earnest 
men,  whose  wise  and  most  successful  efforts  for 
the  Sabbath  have  attracted  your  attention  to 
my  words  to-night,  if  they  should  describe  the 
influences    that   have   enlisted    them   in   this 
cause,  would   point   you   to   some  red-gabled 
faiin-house  amono;  the  hills  of  New  Enofland, 
or  to  the  homestead  on  the  Hudson,  or  possibly, 
to  the  far-off  cottage  among  the  blue  bells  and 
the  heather,  where  their  childhood  drank  in 
the  love  of  God's  Sabbath   at  the  knees  of 
Christian  mothers.     We  see  the  cluster  in  the 
tree-top,  but  the  root  is  far  away  in  the  cleft 
of  the  rock.     Nomish  hopefully  these  plants 


176  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

of  rigliteousness,  for  God  sliall  make  them  "  fill 
tlie  land.  The  hills  shall  be  covered  with  the 
shadow  of  them,  and  their  boughs  shall  be  like 
the  goodly  cedars." 

The  Sabbath,  however,  has  another  sm'e  and 
most  direct  approach  to  the  hearts  of  its  ene- 
mies. Our  office,  as  Christians,  is  to  do  good  in 
the  world;  and  our  Saviour  has  marked  the  Sab- 
bath as  our  most  precious  opportunity.  It  is 
the  intermission  of  labour,  but  not  of  pain.  It 
withdraws  the  poor  and  wretched  from  the 
employments  which  help  to  dissipate  their 
grief,  and  leaves  them  face  to  face  with  their 
troubles,  an  easy  prey  to  every  temptation. 
That  is  the  day  for  walking  among  the 
maltitude  of  impotent  folk  and  saying,  "  Wilt 
thou  be  made  whole  V  This  duty  of  the 
Sabbath  is  beginning  to  be  done,  and  in 
ways  that  cannot  be  ineffective.  The  recent 
enterprise  of  mission  school  instruction,  se- 
lecting its  objects  from  the  very  classes  that 
most  need  to  learn  what  the  Sabbath  is, 
is  scattering  in  every  direction  such  rays  of  its 
holy  light,  as  cannot  be  overlooked  or  extin- 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  177 

guislied.  However  low  may  be  the  motives 
that  resort  to  this  charity,  the  charity  itself  is 
like  Christ's  ;  and  "  wisdom  is  justified  of  her 
children."  Divine  kindness  is  strons^er  than 
even  human  selfishness,  and  it  is  a  gain  to  the 
former  whenever  they  meet.  But  let  the  chil- 
dren who  take  our  benefactions,  also  take 
home  with  them  our  Sabbath  truths  and 
songs  ;  or,  best  of  all,  let  grace  do  its  frequent 
work  of  kindling  piety  within  those  young  bo- 
soms, and  then  our  holy  day  has  gained  a  life- 
long witness  just  where  the  testimony  was  most 
needed.  This  Christ-like  work  is  only  begun, 
and  its  fruits  are  not  yet  ripe.  But  it  is 
to  spread  over  the  land  like  light,  and  the 
children  of  infidels  and  Sabbath-haters,  a 
whole  generation,  are  to  bury  the  prejudices 
of  their  fathers  at  the  threshold  of  the  mission 
school. 

But  Christian  love  is  not  restricted  to  any 
organized  method  of  Sabbath  kindness.  The 
doors  are  open  on  every  side,  and  where  Christ 
would  go,  if  he  were  with  us,  there  his  servants 
are  bound  to  go  in  his  name.     What  if  the 


178  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

wealthy  Christian  merchant  should  be  found  on 
the  Sabbath  at  the  bed-side  of  his  sick  porter, 
and  should  leave  with  him  some  tokens  of  sym- 
pathy both  for  body  and  soul;  whenshould  that 
visit  be  forgotten  ?  Would  the  open-mouthed 
children,  that  should  see  the  great  man's  gift, 
and  hear  his  prayer,  be  quicker  or  slower  to 
accept,  in  after  life,  the  slander  that  the  spirit- 
ual Sabbath  is  a  curse,  and  that  those  who 
keep  it  are  hypocrites  ?  An  earnest  heart  can 
easily  find  room,  in  such  directions,  for  a  most 
beneficent  and  persuasive  Sabbath  work. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  counterfeit  and  mischiev- 
ous Sunday  kindness  that  is  far  too  common. 
It  is  the  mere  friendliness  which  makes  a  neigh- 
bour's sickness  the  occasion  of  a  kind  of  visit- 
ing, demanded  neither  by  necessity  nor  mercy, 
which,  with  its  din  of  worldly  conversations, 
often  makes  the  exhausted  sufferer  pray  that 
the  misnamed  day  of  rest  might  end.  What 
an  outrage  it  is  upon  all  propriety,  when 
possibly  the  last  Sabbath  of  a  dying  man, 
that  ought  to  catch  even  the  whispers  of  heav- 
en, is  overrun  by  a  trampling  multitude,  and 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  179 

that,  too,  in  the  holy  name  of  Christian  kind- 
ness !  It  is  hiwful  to  do  good  upon  the  Sab- 
hath  day;  but  see  that  the  good  be  done. 
Visit  the  sick  who  need  your  visits  ;  and  go, 
not  in  the  name  of  Sunday  leisure,  but  in  the 
name  of  Sabbath  love.  Gro  at  a  cost  of 
trouble  and  of  goods  ;  and  let  men  know  what 
sends  you.  As  they  are  cheered  by  your 
words,  and  refreshed  by  your  dainties,  draw 
aside  the  veil  from  the  angel  that  leads  you, 
and  let  them  see  that  it  is  Christ's  Sabbath. 
We  should  thus  find  in  our  day  of  joy  and  hope 
a  power  of  blessing  which  even  the  church 
has  not  yet  appreciated.  We  have  used  it  for 
standing  about  our  Redeemer,  and  taking  the 
bread  that  multiplies  in  his  hands.  It  was 
meant  to  multiply  again  in  ours.  We  have  re- 
garded the  day  as  the  monument  of  Christ's 
resurrection,  and  so  the  pledge  of  our  own. 
It  is  the  pledge  of  more  than  that.  There  is 
a  dead  world  to  be  quickened,  and  the  church 
is  to  speak  the  word ;  not  as  Christ  spoke  it, 
standing  in  majesty  beside  the  uncovered 
grave,  but  as  Elijah  and  Paul  spoke  it,  stretched 


180  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

out  upon  the  dead — hearts,  and  hands,  and  lips 
together,  and  quickening  the  lifeless  nostrils 
with  their  breath  of  prayer. 

I  cannot  leave  this  topic  without  touching  a 
question  which  is  very  commonly  agitated,  and 
which  even  the  friends  of  the  Sabbath  some- 
times answer  doubtfully.  Should  not  the  rest- 
day  of  labouring  men  embody  elements  of 
mere  recreation,  for  which  the  more  favoured 
classes  have  no  excuse  ?  Should  those  who  are 
held  all  the  week,  and  from  morning  to  night, 
to  different  forms  of  exhausting  toil,  be  ex- 
pected to  divide  their  one  day  of  repose 
between  their  confined  and  squalid  apartments 
and  the  church  ?  Since  nature  in  her  most 
lovely  forms  is  brought  to  their  very  doors, 
may  not  they  and  their  children  find  even 
their  Sabbath  worship  in  the  midst  of  the 
graceful  landscape  ?  The  question  seems  to 
admit  but  one  reply,  until  you  add  another 
question  to  it.  Does  the  Sabbath,  when  de- 
voted chiefly  to  physical  recreation,  tend  to 
elevate  the  labourer  above  the  necessity  of  his 
unremitting  toil,  or  to  hold  hini  to  it  ?     How 


TEE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  181 

many  of  the  cliilclren  of  Puritan  fathers,  who 
have  lived  worthy  of  their  training,  need  to 
make  the  Sabbath  their  only  escape  from 
exhausting  toil  and  squalid  homes  ?  Or  if 
they  find  themselves  snnk  to  such  a  necessity, 
shall  their  escape  lie  through  the  buzz  and 
flutter  of  a  Sunday  holiday,  or  along  the  for- 
saken paths  to  the  sanctuary  of  God  ?  Will 
you  apply  your  remedy  to  the  symptom,  or  to 
the  disease  ;  to  the  soul,  which  shall  not  fail  to 
find  in  the  gospel  the  motive  and  the  method 
of  thrift  and  independence,  or  to  sense,  which 
gathers  up  its  pleasures,  and  is  as  needy  as 
ever  ? — Whether  those  who  are  most  interest- 
ed in  this  question  will  promptly  accept  this 
solution  of  it,  is  more  than  doubtful ;  but  inas- 
much as  God  has  lodged  in  a  spiritual  Sabbath 
the  promise  ''  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of 
that  which  is  to  come,"  no  refusal  of  men  to 
embrace  these  substantial  gains  will  warrant 
us  in  taking  the  very  life  out  of  the  day,  and 
exchanscincr  the  wine  and  the  milk  for  water 
spilled  upon  the  ground,  that  cannot  be  gath- 
ered. 


182  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

I  know  very  well  what  can  be  said  of  tlie 
elevating  and  purifying  effects  of  a  day  cheer- 
fully spent  under  the  open  sky ;  how  all  na- 
ture is  made  a  temple  and  man  the  priest,  and 
his  innocent  joy  itself  the  most  eloquent  wor- 
ship. But  our  religion  has  taught  us  a  differ- 
ent language.  Worship  begins  at  the  Cross, 
and  the  Cross  is  set  forth  in  the  gospel.  The 
very  office  of  the  Sabbath  is  to  lead  men  to 
Christ. 

If  it  be  said,  then,  that  a  man  may  meet 
Christ  in  the  park  as  well  as  in  the  church,  I 
answer,  that  cannot  be.  There  is  a  promise  for 
those  who  assemble  in  his  name,  and  no  prom- 
ise for  those  who  forsake  that  assembling.  Let 
men  meet  God  in  God's  own  way ;  for  those 
who  dishonour  that  way  shall  not  meet  him  at 
all.  If  Sabbath  recreation,  then,  ever  be 
right,  the  prescribed  Sabbath  worship  must 
at  least  come  first ;  and  they  who  shall  have 
tasted  that  spiritual  worship,  will  not  think  of 
prolonging  it  among  a  laughing  crowd. 

This  whole  work  of  Sabbath  reform  among 
the  masses  may  seem,  from  its  magnitude  and 


THE    DUTIES    OP   THE    SABBATH.  183 

difficulty,  to  be  quite  discouraging.     Yet  God's 
Spirit  and  promise  are  on  tlie  side  of  its  ac- 
complishment.    Our  only  real  discouragement 
lies  in  our  own  unfaitlifulness.     The  friends  of 
the  Sabbath  are  but  half  awake,  w^hile  its  ene- 
mies never  sleep ;  and  the  most  dangerous  of 
those  enemies  does  his  work  in  the  community 
almost  without  opposition.     I  speak  of  that  ir- 
religious  newspaj)er   press   which   both   dese- 
crates the  Sabbath  itself,  and  assaults  it  on  all 
other  days.     The  mere  existence  of  such  an 
agency,  dangerous  as  it  is,  would  not  need  to 
alarm  us ;  for  God's  promise  assures  his  faith- 
ful church  against  this  danger  as  w^ell  as  all 
others.     But  w^hat  if  good  men  look  on  in  si- 
lence while  the  mischief  is  done  ?     What  if 
they  even  make  terms  with  the  enemy  so  that 
they  shall  helj)  him  into  ten  thousand  homes, 
their  own  among  them,  if  he  will  help  them  to 
news  or  to  trade  ?     In  such  an  alliance  only 
one   j)arty  can   be   the   gainer.     When   good 
men  and  Satan  meet  on  the  same  side,  he  sac- 
rifices none  of  his  interests  for  their  friendship. 
He  is  the  leader,  and  they  are  the  underhngs. 


184  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

Tliey  win  his  battles  and  lie  pays  tliem  their 
wages — a  poor  recompense  for  the  injury  they 
offer  their  own  Master.  It  cannot  be  one  of 
the  necessities  of  Christian  politics  or  com- 
merce, even  in  a  sinful  world,  that  it  should  at 
once  use  and  help  that  class  of  journals  which, 
by  set  purpose,  oppose  the  vital  interests  of 
God's  cause  and  day.  The  logic  that  excuses 
the  unholy  compact  may  pass  current  in  the 
market  place ;  but  it  cannot  bear  the  search- 
ing eye  of  Christ. 

I  would  have  every  good  man  resolve  that 
no  paper  that  is  fairly  known  as  the  en- 
emy of  religion  and  of  the  Sabbath  shall 
have  from  his  hand  the  help  of  a  farthing. 
His  daily  or  weekly  pittance  may  seem  to  be 
nothing  to  so  gigantic  a  system.  But  it  lives 
by  pittances,  and  asks  for  nothing  more.  The 
traffic  of  the  press  is  like  no  other.  It  sells 
the  same  facts  and  thoughts  over  and  over 
again  to  an  innumerable  multitude ;  the  price 
it  demands  is  a  mere  mite  from  each,  but  each 
mite  is  a  new  one ;  and  the  result  is  a  mighty 
revenue.     With  a  wicked  press  the  bargain  is, 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  185 

a  very  little  money  for  a  very  potent  curse. 
Let  no  man  that  fears  God  be  a  party  to  that 
traffic.  I  would  not  help  the  enemy  of  my 
country  either  to  a  ton  of  powder  or  to  an 
ounce ;  and  I  would  do  no  more  for  the  enemy 
of  God.  Even  if  what  I  shoukl  withhold  could 
prove  no  loss  to  him,  it  should  be  great  gain 
to  me ;  at  least  in  conscious  loyalty  and  in  my 
power  to  pray.  But,  in  truth,  the  Christian 
community  has  control  of  this  whole  evil.  As 
soon  as  we  are  thoroughly  in  earnest  we  can 
bring  it  to  an  end. 

Meanwhile,  the  most  fearful  mischief  done 
to  true  religion  in  all  our  land  is  done  by 
Christians  who,  by  their  money  and  their 
countenance,  give  currency  to  sheets  whose 
direct  aim  is  to  train  the  multitude  to  the 
hatred  of  godliness.  Is  it  not  worse  than 
trifling  for  us  to  feed  the  very  fountain  of 
popular  prejudice  against  our  cause,  and  still 
to  complain  that  the  prejudice  is  so  great  ? 

In  all  this  discussion  of  Sabbath  duty,  I  have 
set  the  standard  high,  where  I  think  God  has 


186  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

placed  it.  In  so  doing,  I  in  no  way  disparage 
that  sort  of  Sabbatli  observance  which  pays 
the  day  a  decent  outward  respect.  I  bless  God 
for  the  multitude  of  men  who,  although  they 
lack  all  spiritual  enjoyment  of  his  holy  day, 
yet  throw  the  weight  of  their  social  influence 
upon  its  side ;  for  those  families  in  which,  if 
there  be  not  heard  the  hearty  utterances  of 
devotion,  the  course  of  common  worldliness  is 
checked,  and  at  least  formal  efforts  are  made 
to  instruct  the  young  in  religion ;  and  for  all 
that  social  order  which  distinguishes  the  Sun- 
day of  our  great  cities  from  the  Sunday  of 
Paris  or  Vienna.  These  things  are  valuable 
and  full  of  promise  ;  but  the  day  that  God 
blessed  and  hallowed  was  appointed  for  greater 
uses  than  these. 

God  holds  our  fickle  hearts  to  steadfastness 
and  hope  by  mighty  verities  grounded  in  him- 
self What  we  can  reverence  is  precious  and 
mighty,  and  what  we  cannot  reverence  is  com- 
mon. And  thus  God's  law  and  grace  for  sinful 
men,  are  made  to  meet  in  a  Divine  Redeemer, 
a  Divine   Gospel,  and  a  Divine  Day.      Take 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  187 

away  their  divinity,  and  tliey  are  nothing. 
Your  Redeemer  becomes  a  man,  your  Gospel 
a  human  book,  and  your  Sabbath  a  holiday. 
The  true  Sabbath  stands  forth  as  the  herald  of 
the  other  two — of  the  word  which  men  can 
see,  and  the  Redeemer  whom  they  cannot. 
Without  tliem  a  pretended  holy  day  would  be 
a  cheat ;  and  without  the  Sabbath  their  voice 
would  be  dumb.  They  belong  together.  The 
Sabbath  is  God's  day,  announcing  God's  Son. 
Be  thankful  for  it,  then,  and  keep  it  holy. 

What  a  wealth  of  blessing  and  power  is 
bound  up  within  it !  Our  Sabbath  is  a  day^ 
and  not  a  place.  Not  a  far-off  Jerusalem  or 
Mecca  which  a  few  pains-taking  pilgrims  may 
visit  once  in  a  life-time ;  but  a  day,  pouring  its 
frequent  flood  of  light  over  the  whole  earth ; 
shining  into  all  eyes,  and  offering  to  shine  into 
all  hearts.  It  is  a  whole  day.  Two  nights 
keep  guard  beside  it,  and  divide  the  sacred 
hours  from  all  others.  It  dawns  out  of  dark- 
ness and  fades  into  darkness  again,  a  sejDarate 
burst  of  the  excellent  glory. — It  comes  like 
other  days.     Nature  has  received  command- 


188  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

ment  to  bring  it  back ;  and  no  will  of  men 
can  stay  its  coming.  They  may  hate  it  or  mis- 
use it,  but  tliey  cannot  blot  out  the  sun.  "  The 
seventh  day  is  the  Sabbatli  of  the  Lord  thy 
God."  And  yet  in  itself  it  is  only  a  day.  It 
is  the  same  light,  the  same  sky,  the  same  world. 
It  brings  neither  nature  nor  man  under  the 
power  of  any  new  physical  law.  Life,  and 
death,  and  thought,  and  action,  all  move  on  ac- 
cording to  their  settled  order.  Then  what 
makes  your  Sabbath  ?  The  almighty  grace  of 
God,  freely  given  and  reverently  received. 
The  wind  that  breathes  over  "the  mountains 
of  spices,"  is  like  any  other  wind  ;  but  it  goes 
away  laden  with  "sweet-smelling  myrrh  and 
frankincense."  The  lio^ht  that  falls  on  the 
cathedral  window  is  common  lischt ;  but  it 
wraps  in  untold  glory  the  bended  worshiper 
upon  the  marble  floor.  The  Sabbath  is  a  com- 
mon day,  until  it  is  loaded  with  the  new  light 
of  God's  presence.  Christ  and  his  Spirit  make 
it.  The  bare  day  is  pure  nature,  and  they  are 
pure  grace ;  but  they  come  together,  another 
incarnation.     The  visible  Sabbath  is  a  visible 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  189 

Gospel.  No  wonder  that  the  Fathers  called  it 
the  "  Queen  of  days."  Common  days  pour 
their  light  over  the  earth  and  the  sky.  But  this 
day  is  grander.  Within  its  broad  horizon 
fiill  all  objects  that  can  awe  or  charm  us.  From 
its  Delectable  Mountains  you  may  catch  on  this 
side,  the  distant  verdure  of  the  first  paradise  ; 
and  on  that,  the  dim  outline  of  the  celestial 
gates.  Far-off  mountains  define  themselves  in 
that  clear  air.  The  ftiint  blue  pyramid  of  Ar- 
rarat,  where  the  ark  rested  ;  the  top  of  Pis- 
gah  ;  Tabor,  with  its  crown  of  light ;  and  Zion, 
still  glittering  with  courts  and  pinnacles.  In 
fuller  view  stands  Calvary  with  its  cross ;  and 
Sinai  beyond  it,  no  longer  clouded.  The  nearer 
landscape  quivers  with  moving  men  ;  and  sep- 
arate multitudes  pour  forth,  from  the  shade  of 
palm  trees  or  of  pines  their  strife  of  harmony. 
And,  dim  as  a  cloud,  on  the  far-distant  highway, 
all  nations  and  kindreds — an  army  with  ban- 
ners— are  walking  in  the  light.  In  this  seven- 
fold brightness  the  visible  sky  itself  dissolves, 
and  a  higher  firmament  embraces  the  great 

white  throne,  the  coming  King,  and  the  chari- 
ots of  God. 


190  THE    DUTIES    OF   THE    SABBATH. 

"  This  is  tlie  day  that  the  Lord  hath  made ; 
we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it." 

See  how  its  marvellous  light  has  been  spread- 
incr  over  the  earth.  Loncf  as^o  it  lifted  its  morn- 
ing  beams  upon  the  tents  of  the  Patriarchs. 
Then  it  blended  witb  the  sound  of  c^^mbals 
and  cornets,  and  the  sono^s  of  multitudes  in  the 
lioly  city.  Then  tlie  grace  of  Pentecost  gave 
it  wings,  and  a  score  of  provinces  began  to  feel 
its  cheerful  warmth.  It  visited  the  lands 
of  our  fathers  across  the  ocean.  At  lengtli 
this  distant  shore  caught  the  rays,  wMle  it 
heard  the  first  Sabbath  song  from  the  lips  of 
the  pilgrims.  And  now,  in  spite  of  all  the 
powers  of  darkness,  the  vertical  beams  flood 
the  wide  land.  They  sleep  upon  the  silent 
plow  and  hammer.  They  steal  through  fra- 
grant blossoms  and  the  hum  of  bees  to  lay 
quivering  shadows  on  the  wide  pages  of  open 
Bibles,  and  on  cottage  groups  in  neat  attire. 
In  crowded  cities  they  fall  on  many  a  silent 
pavement ;  or  on  the  long  train  of  those  who 
go  to  the  house  of  God  in  company.  And 
even  in  the  camp  their  steady  gleam  shines 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH.  191 

back  from  the  stacked  weapons  of  a  worship- 
ing army. 

Is  it  a  curse  or  a  blessing?  Let  your  hearts 
tell,  and  your  Christian  homes ;  and  the  graves 
of  your  dead.  Nay,  what  commonest  blessing 
have  we  which  the  Sabbath  has  not  either 
given  or  enhanced  ?  Men  cry  out  against  it, 
in  the  name  of  liberty.  Do  they  know  that 
the  spiritual  Sabbath,  bringing  men  near  to 
God  through  Jesus  Christ,  was  the  first  influ- 
ence that  ever  made  them  at  once  too  great 
to  be  slaves,  and  too  just  to  be  tyrants  ?  Do 
they  know  that  this  grandness  of  Sabbath 
piety  alone  laid  the  first  foundations  of  free- 
dom in  this  land ;  and  that  our  Sabbath 
hymns,  fragrant  with  the  memory  of  martyrs, 
will  float  around  our  battlements  a  better  safe- 
guard than  thousands  of  oi'd nance  ?  The  day 
has  made  us,  and  made  us  for  a  witness.  Let 
the  testimony  be  given,  and  what  power  shall 
be  in  it !  The  busiest  nation  on  the  earth 
resting  on  God's  Sabbath  !  The  freest  nation 
binding  itself  on  that  day  by  the  restraints  of 
God's  safe  law !     A  nation  made  of  all  the  na- 


192  THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

tions  testing  the  truth  and  proclaiming  it,  that 
tlie  way  to  knowledge,  and  wealth,  and  power, 
and  liberty,  and  virtue,  and  domestic  blessing, 
as  well  as  to  true  religion  and  the  hope  of 
glory,  is  led  by  God  in  the  light  of  his  Sab- 
bath !  It  is  true ;  let  the  world  hear  it,  and 
from  us.  But  if  w^e  shall  be  silent  or  unfaith- 
ful, this  advancing  light  shall  not  be  checked. 
Barriers  may  rear  themselves ;  it  shall  scale 
them  without  ladders.  The  floods  may  lift  up 
their  waves;  yet  the  Lord  shall  lay  among 
them  the  beams  of  his  chamber.  The  dark 
world  has  the  promise  of  the  long  noonday, 
and  waits  for  it  as  the  frozen  l^orth  waits  for 
the  summer.  Already  the  brightening  hemis- 
phere turns  farther  and  farther  toward  the 
mounting  sun.  The  warm  effulgence  steals 
down  into  deep  valleys  that  never  were  so 
blessed  before.  At  length  the  evening  and 
the  morning  twilight  meet ;  they  mingle ; 
they  are  gone ;  "  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
covereth  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the 
sea." 


THE 


BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH, 


n^V.  W.  ADAMS,  D.  D., 

PASTOR   OF  THE   MADISON-SQUAKE   PRESBYTERIAN   CHrRCH. 


lU  BtmiiU  $t  tlu 


"And  He  said  unto  them,  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  max,  and 

NOT   MAN   FOR  THE    SaBBATH." — Lukc   U.  27. 


It  is  one  of  the  many  advantages  attendant 
upon  the  serial  discussion  of  a  subject,  such  as 
that  now  in  progress  in  regard  to  the  Sabbath, 
that  there  is  not  only  a  division  of  argument, 
but  an  accumulation  of  argument,  at  each  suc- 
cessive stage  of  the  process.  The  divine  origin 
and  authority  of  the  Sabbath  once  established, 
a  prodigious  advantage  is  secured  for  us  as  we 
undertake  to  treat  of  the  benefits  of  the  Sab- 
bath. We  have,  for  the  premises  of  our  argu- 
ment, this  rudimental  fact,  that  the  goodness 
of  God  must  underlie  and  pervade  all  his  enact- 
ments; that  his  entire  legislation  for  the  welfare 
of  the  world  has  actually  been  ej)itomized  in  this 
one  word  love  /  and  consequently  we  reach  the 
certain  deduction,  that  "  in  keeping  God's  com- 
mandments, there  is  great  reward."     Whether 

(195) 


196     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

we  are  successful  or  not  in  collating,  out  of  our 
own  observation  and  experience,  all  tlie  ad- 
vantao:es  wLicli  accrue  to  individuals  and  com- 
muuities  from  obedience  to  the  Sabbatical  law, 
here  is  a  standing-place,  high,  and  broad,  and 
firm,  from  which  we  take  our  start,  that  the 
commandments  of  God  are  of  no  doubtful  ten- 
dency, but  invariably  conduce  to  the  good  of 
our  species.  The  more  copious  our  induction 
of  facts,  the  wider  the  sphere  of  our  observa- 
tion, the  more  evidences  do  we  gather,  that  all 
the  parts  of  this  universal  system,  the  hum- 
blest and  the  grandest,  have  some  relation, 
more  or  less  important,  to  the  interests  of  the 
human  race.  Science  has  detected  certain  oc- 
cultations  and  immersions  of  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter  ;  but  even  those  phenomena,  occurring 
at  a  point  so  remote  in  the  heavens,  have  been 
proved  to  be  of  the  greatest  practical  use,  in 
giving  accuracy  to  the  computation  of  longi- 
tudes, and  so  perfecting  the  safety  of  naviga- 
tion. If  it  be  so,  that  the  whole  mechanism  of 
nature  is  full  of  these  adaptations  subservient 
to  human  advantage,  how  certain  is  it,  beyond 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     197 

the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  the  positive 
enactments  of  the  Almighty,  emanating  imme- 
diately from  His  beneficence,  are  laden  with 
blessings  for  all  who  treat  them  with  obedient 
regard. 

We  claim  for  the  topic  assigned  for  this  oc- 
casion,— which  is,  the  henefits  of  the  Sahhatli — 
another  advantage,  of  which  it  is  right  to  avail 
ourselves,  growing  out  of  the  form  in  which 
the  topic  is  presented. 

Early  in  the  present  century,  the  National 
Institute  of  France  proposed  a  prize  for  the 
best  treatise  on  this  subject :  "  What  has  been 
the  influence  of  the  Protestant  Reformation  on 
the  progress  of  knowledge  and  liberty  in  the 
several  nations  of  Europe?"  Villers,  the  au- 
thor of  the  successful  essay,  very  adroitly 
begins  his  argument  with  this  idea.  The 
time  was  when  those  intending  to  discuss 
the  influence  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation, 
would  have  proposed  the  subject  somewhat 
after  this  manner :  "  What  are  the  evils 
which  it  has  inflicted  upon  European  Society  V 
But  now  the  question  is.  What  has  been  the  ef- 


198     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

feet  of  that  great  movement  on  the  progress  of 
light  and  liberty  ?  and  this  change  in  the  form 
of  stating  the  question,  cames  with  it  the  proof 
of  a  change  in  human  convictions.*  After  the 
same  manner  may  we  take  advantage,  in  our 
present  discussion,  of  the  form  in  which  the 
topic  is  presented.  That  topi^  is,  What  are 
the  benefits  which  follow  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  ?  Psoradic  objections  have  been 
made  by  irreligious  or  sceptical  men  to  the 
keeping  of  the  Christian  Sabbath ;  but  no  one 
ever  dreamed  of  presenting  the  subject  on  this 
wise  :  "  What  are  the  evils  brought  upon  indi- 
viduals and  nations  by  a  careful  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  V  That  form  of  statement  would 
shock  the  general  judgment  of  all  Christian 
civilization.  Individuals  may  be  found  to  de- 
preciate the  Sabbath,  or  to  take  the  negative 
view  of  its  benefits  ;  but  what  man,  of  respect- 
able parts,  addicted  to  honest  thought,  ever 
conceived  the  project  of  dissuading  an  intelli- 
gent community  from  observing  the  Sabbath- 


*Essai  sur  L'  Esprit  et  L'  Influence  de  la  Reformation  de  Luther.    Par 
Charles  Villers, 


THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH.  199 

day,  by  proving  tlie  evils  consequent  upon  its 
recurrence !  The  very  service  which  we  are  in- 
vited to  undertake  this  evening — to  enumer- 
ate some  of  the  benefits  of  the  Sabbath — of 
itself,  demonstrates  how  deep-seated  and  gener- 
al is  the  conviction,  that  the  proper  observance 
of  this  holy  day  is  immediately  related  to  hu- 
man well-being. 

These  preliminary  remarks  will  the  better  pre- 
pare us  to  receive  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
chosen  for  our  text :  "  The  Sabbath  was  made 
for  man."  This  was  aimed  at  the  micrology  of 
the  Pharisees,  who  cavilled  at  our  Lord  for  an 
act  of  charity  performed  on  the  Sabbath, 
showing  that  their  notions  concerning  that  holy 
day  were  based  on  superstition,  rather  than  on 
a  just  concejDtion  of  it  as  appointed  by  Him, 
who  would  have  mercy  rather  than  sacrifice. 
Since  the  Sabbath  was  intended  to  promote 
the  benefit  of  man,  whatever  is  necessary  to 
that  benefit,  is  obviously  to  be  allowed  upon 
that  day. 

It  is  of  great  service  to  us  that  the  topic 
next  preceding  this,  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath, 


200  THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

and  the  mode  of  observing  it,  was  discussed 
witli  so  much  discrimination.  There  are  modes 
of  observing  the  Sabbath  which  are  of  ques- 
tionable utility.  Mistakes  and  improprieties 
may  obtain  in  connection  with  the  day  which 
entail  mischiefs,  that  would  have  been  avoided 
by  a  wiser  method  of  its  observance.  If  that 
is  made  a  task-service,  which  was  intended  as  a 
j)rivilege  and  delight,  all  the  benefits  designed 
to  be  conveyed  by  it  are  lost.  A  fatal  injury 
was  done  to  Lord  Bolingbroke,  by  the  well- 
intended  but  mistaken  act  of  his  grandparent, 
in  compelling  him,  in  his  early  boyhood,  to 
pass  his  Sabbaths  in  reading  Dr.  Manton's  one 
hundred  and  nineteen  sermons  on  the  119th 
Psalm. 

If  some  are  left  to  regret  the  mistakes  which 
were  made  in  regard  to  the  mode  of  observing 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  others  will  confess  that 
their  associations  with  the  day,  under  a  more 
judicious  training,  are  of  the  opjDosite  character. 
I  speak  to  many  who  cherish  the  memories  of 
the  Sabbath  as  among  the  fondest  of  their 
lives.     Never  do  they  associate  with  it  any- 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     201 

thing  repulsive ;  but  everything  which  is  at- 
tractive and  delightful.  The  poetic  image 
which  is  retained,  when  much  else  is  forgotten, 
is  the  picture  of  the  summer  Sabbath  in  a  ru- 
ral home  ;  when  all  within  was  so  full  of  com- 
fort, peace,  and  love,  and  all  without  so  bright, 
so  fair,  so  ti'anquil ;  the  air  laden  with  the 
perfume  of  the  clover  and  the  rose ;  and  all  so 
sweetly  still,  that  the  crowing  of  a  cock,  or  the 
lowing  of  a  cow,  could  be  heard  from  one  end 
of  the  village  to  the  other,  and  a  contented, 
honest,  frugal  people,  left  their  houses  open 
and  unfastened,  as  they  went  up  to  the  house 
of  God  to  worship. 

The  duties  pertaining  to  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath have  been  summarily  described  as  cessa- 
tion from  secular  labour :  together  with  such  em- 
ployments as  pertain  to  divine  worship,  religious 
instruction,  and  acts  of  Christian  usefulness. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  specify  some  of  the 
benefits  which  are  found  to  result  from  sucli 
duties.  These  naturally  arrange  themselves  in 
order,  as  physical,  intellectual,  social,  and 
reli2:ious. 


202     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

It  would  be  cynical  to  object  to  tlie  men- 
tion of  physical  advantages,  as  beneath  the 
solemn  dignity  of  the  Christian  pulpit.  God 
cares  for  cattle  ;  much  more  for  the  bodies 
of  men.  Tlie  specific  mention  of  thyself,  thy 
son,  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant,  thy  maid- 
servant, thy  cattle,  thy  stranger  that  is  within 
thy  gates,  as  included  in  the  common  prohibi- 
tion from  work,  instructs  us  that  sucli  rest  is  not 
the  privilege  of  classes  and  orders,  but  a  light 
and  a  necessity  which  pertains  to  man  as  man, 
— to  the  human  organization,  and  by  a  wider 
generalization  to  the  whole  animal  economy. 
"  Six  days  shalt  thou  labour,  and  do  all  thy 
work.  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of 
the  Lord  thy  God  ;  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any 
work."  Observe  how  the  double  construction 
of  the  law  is  made  to  face  the  two  extremes, 
which  are  practiced  by  men  in  regard  to  the 
Sabbath.  Some  are  disposed  to  disregard  the 
Sabbath  entirely,  prosecuting  secular  work  on 
that  day  as  on  other  days,  to  whom  the  law 
addresses  its  positive  interdict,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
work."     Others,  practicing  what  has  been  so 


THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH.  203 

forcibly  called,  by  an  apostle,  "  will-worship," 
have  appended  to  the  Sabbatical  law  so  many 
voluntary  appointments  of  their  own,  occupy- 
ing the  whole  of  the  calendar  with  their  saints' 
days,  and  feast  days,  for  which  they  claim 
an  authority  equal  to  that  of  the  Sabbath, 
that  the  consequence  has  been,  in  many  coun- 
tries, indolence  and  waste,  to  whom  the  fourth 
commandment  presents  another  aspect — "  Six 
days  shalt  thou  labour,  and  do  all  thy  work" 
— so  that  out  of  the  two  teachings  concerning 
the  duty  of  work  and  the  duty  of  rest,  we 
have  that  compound  law  which  we  are  now  to 
illustrate. 

It  was  a  profound  remark  of  Aristotle,  that 
the  "  end  of  labour  is  to  gain  leisure."  The 
contrary  opinion  is  the  more  common.  Intensi- 
ty of  work,  with  little  regard  to  ends  aud  uses, 
is  itself  exalted  into  a  virtue.  Compared  Avith 
doing  nothing,  with  laziness,  work  may  claim  a 
high  nobility.  The  exercise  of  our  faculties 
seems  to  be  essential  to  our  highest  enjoyment ; 
accordingly,  man,  in  his  state  of  innocence,  pos- 
sessed of  a  most  munificent  patrimony,  was  di- 


204     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

rectecl  to  keep  and  till  the  exuberant  garden  in 
which  he  waked  to  consciousness.  But  when 
sin  invaded  the  earth,  iDorl:^  was  changed  to  la- 
hou7\  which  implies  hardness  and  the  sweat  of 
the  brow.  A  necessity  is  laid  upon  man  to 
work,  somewhat  like  that  to  which  criminals 
have  been  subjected  in  a  cell,  into  which  water 
is  introduced  so  rapidly,  that  they  must  pump 
or  drown.  Since  the  curse  has  fallen  upon 
man,  and  upon  the  earth  for  man's  sake,  labour 
is  necessary  as  the  means  of  human  subsist- 
ence ;  and  after  the  necessities  of  mere  bread- 
getting  for  the  sustenance  of  life,  there  comes 
a  troop  of  passions,  cupidity,  ambition,  pride, 
prompting  man  to  ceaseless  and  excessive  toil. 
The  moment  you  touch  the  point  of  a  liberal 
provision  for  animal  necessities, — the  surplus 
of  time,  and  strength,  and  acquisition, — you 
have  a  reserved  power  which  is  to  be  applied  to 
higher  and  nobler  ends — to  the  enjoyment  of 
life  and  to  the  decoration  and  improvement  of 
society.  The  whole  of  life  looks  to  an  eternal 
Sabbatism  as  an  end.  But  that  end  has  its  re- 
flections and  anticipations  in  this  present  life. 


THE  BENEFITS  OP  THE  SABBATH.     205 

The  very  same  word  is  employed  in  Holy 
Scripture  to  denote  Christian  rest  on  earth  and 
ultimate  rest  in  heaven.  Unrelieved,  constant, 
wearisome  work,  dwindles  body  and  soul  alike 
and  bears  man  down  into  that  depression, 
from  which  it  is  the  aim  of  the  gospel  to  bring 
him  up.  That  man  might  know  that  work  by 
itself,  however  intense,  cannot  sufficiently  dig- 
nify and  ennoble  him,  that  he  does  not  live,  in 
the  true  sense,  by  bread  alone — a  limit  is  fixed 
in  this  direction — so  that  the  jaded  body  may 
have  its  repose,  and  the  jaded  man  may  wash 
the  sweat  and  dust  from  his  brow,  and  lift  it 
up  in  the  brightness  of  a  higher  life.  The  tes- 
timony of  physiologists,  as  to  the  necessity  of 
rest  and  recreation  to  the  most  successful  work- 
ing of  the  human  constitution,  is  so  ample  and 
so  uniform,  and  this  in  coincidence  with  the 
measurement  of  time,  as  incorporated  in  the 
fourth  commandment,  that  the  thing  to  be 
wondered  at  is,  that  those  of  all  classes,  profes- 
sions, and  pursuits,  who  are  doomed  to  inces- 
sant work,  have  not  long  since  demanded  the 
Sabbath-day  as  a  great  right  of  humanity,  nev- 


206  THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

er  to  be  extorted  from  any  without  a  violence 
done  to  nature.  It  is  a  grand  mistake  of  certain 
sceptics,  to  attempt  to  account  for  sin  on  the 
ground  of  physical  causes,  as  some  have  done, 
who,  like  Shelley,  have  prescribed  as  a  cure  for 
the  depravity  of  the  soul,  a  more  careful  reg- 
imen as  to  diet  and  ablutions ;  but  it  is  wor- 
thy of  our  profound  and  earnest  thought,  how 
much  less  of  evil  there  would  be  in  the  world, 
if  there  were  a  more  careful  attention  to  those 
physical  laws  which  have  been  ordained  by 
the  same  Being  who  appointed  the  Sabbath. 
If  God  has  desio-ned  that  this  natural  mechan- 
ism  cannot  run  incessantly  without  friction,  and 
wear,  and  waste  ;  if  he  has  required  this  clang 
and  clatter  to  stop  awhile  for  rest  and  lubrica- 
tion, then  is  it  certain  that  the  attempt  to 
work  it  beyond  the  prescribed  limits  will 
be  followed  by  irritability,  and  petulance, 
and  evil  passions,  and  insanity.  When  Sir 
Mathew  Hale  made  the  remark,  which  has  now 
become  classical,  that  he  invariably  observed 
that  he  prospered  during  the  week  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  fidelity  with  which  he 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     207 

observed  the  Sabbath,  it  was  not  the  irration- 
al suggestion  of  suj^erstition,  but  a  fact  found- 
ed on  natural  laws.  Who  can  doubt  that  the 
judgment  of  that  distinguished  jurist  was  the 
more  sound ;  his  discernment  of  affairs  more 
clear ;  his  whole  personality  more  vigourous 
and  available,  after  the  repose  of  the  Sabbath, 
than  it  could  have  been  had  his  brain  been 
kept  under  full  tension  and  excitement  through 
seven  days  of  unintermitted  labour  ?  Lord  Cas- 
tlereagh  adopted  another  practice,  which  re- 
sulted in  another  way.  His  overwrought  na- 
ture, hampered  and  annoyed  by  the  meshes  of 
political  casuistry,  day  after  day,  and  week  af- 
ter week,  without  a  Sabbath,  broke  down  un- 
der the  strain,  and  he  died  in  the  delirium  of 
insanity  by  his  own  hand.  I  draw  my  illustra- 
tions, of  purpose,  from  this  class  of  working 
men,  rather  than  from  those  who  work  only  by 
strength  of  muscle  or  nicety  of  mere  manual 
skill,  because  it  is  more  suited  to  an  audience 
like  this,  composed  of  men  who  work  with  the 
brain,  in  the  counting-room,  at  the  bar,  on  the 
])ench,  than  to  one  made   up  of   those  who 


208     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

drudge  witli  sledge  and  spade.  If  tlie  induc- 
tion of  facts  should  confirm  what  has  been  re- 
ported, that  accidents  have  been  most  frequent 
and  ruinous  upon  those  railroads,  on  which 
work  is  compelled  for  the  seven  days  alike,  in- 
stead of  disposing  of  it,  as  some  pretend,  as  a 
mere  whim,  we  should  be  promjDt  to  assert,  that 
an  engineer,  whose  hand  is  on  the  lever  of  a 
locomotive  every  day,  without  that  intermission 
which  God  has  ordained,  would  be  likely  to 
impair  that  coolness  of  judgment,  quickness  of 
apprehension,  and  steadiness  of  nerve,  which 
are  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  property  and 
lives  under  his  care,  so  that  disaster  would  be 
the  likeliest  of  all  occurrences.  The  point 
which  we  make  is,  that  He  who  ordained  the 
law  of  the  Sabbath  is  the  Maker  of  the  human 
frame  ;  that  this  law  is  not  an  arbitrary  ap- 
pointment, but  essentia]  to  human  welfare ;  that 
it  cannot  be  violated  without  inflictino:  harm 
on  the  constitution  which  it  was  designed  to 
bless ;  that  expediency  and  prudence,  though 
they  do  not  proceed  from  the  same  point  with 
duty,  invariably  tend  to  the  same  result ;  in 


THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH.  209 

short,  that  our  Christian  Sabbatism  is  a  hiw  of 
relief  and  of  compensation,  and  any  arrest  put 
upon  it  is  adding  force  and  volume  to  that  in- 
tensity of  lal)our,  which  stunts  the  unthinking 
down  into  coarsest  animalism,  and  precij)itates 
those  who  think  incessantly  in  one  strain  into 
exhaustion,  madness,*  and  death. 

Leaving  this  position  to  be  fortified  by  facts 
and  experience,  we  pi-oceed  to  remind  you  that 
our  theory  of  the  Sabbath,  and  of  the  mode  of 
observing  it,  does  not  make  it  a  season  of  sleep 
and  vacancy,  but  a  day  consecrated  to  the  ho- 
liest and  hajDpiest  of  all  employments.  So  that 
the  chief  benefits  of  the  Sabbath  are  vet  to  be 
mentioned.  Whatever  gives  protection  to  the 
animal  economy,  whatever  tends  to  give  fresh- 
ness and  vigour  to  the  powers  of  nature,  is,  in- 
deed, of  high  importance ;  but  it  is  so  chiefly 
because  of  the  intimate  relation  which  subsists 
between  a  healthful  body  and  a  well-balanced 
mind,  with  other  and  higher  ends  of  human 
existence. 

So  it  occurs  that  the  first  and  most  grateful 
memories  associated,  in  many  minds,  with  the 


210     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

Sabbath,  relates  to  its  social  advantages  ;  and 
tliese  as  distributed  througli  families  and  com- 
munities. 

Whatever  tends  to  give  life  and  power  to 
domestic  affections,  is  the  grand  ally  of  general 
virtue.  The  argument  employed  with  so  much 
power  and  success,  by  those  who  advocated  the 
system  of  cheap  postage  in  Great  Britain,  was 
based  on  the  well-known  effect  of  freq^uent 
communication  with  home,  as  the  best  safe- 
guard, especially  of  the  young.  The  Sabbath 
wisely  and  religiously  observed  in  a  family,  not 
only  infuses  new  life  into  the  domestic  affec- 
tions, but  provides  the  best  occasion  for  their 
expression.  A  careful  study  of  the  Mosaic 
law  on  this  subject,  convinces  us  that  the  social 
worship  of  families  and  tribes,  keeping  fresh 
and  vigourous  at  once  the  sentiment  of  home, 
and  the  sentiment  of  nationality,  was  one  of 
the  prime  objects  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and 
of  the  various  Jewish  festivals.  Much  more  is 
this  true  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  which,  as  the 
great  time-keeper  of  the  week,  the  balance- 
wheel  of  order,  secures  the  time  and  the  place, 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     211 

whicli  otherwise  would  be  lost  for  the  culture 
and  the  expression  of  true  love.  Nothing  bet- 
ter illustrates  this  fact,  than  the  scene  immor- 
talized in  the  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Night,"  by 
Burns  ;  the  gathering  of  all  the  household,  scat- 
tered, at  different  tasks  and  in  different  direc- 
tions during  the  week,  one  by  one  coming  to 
their  home,  bringing  their  earnings,  and  their 
symj)athy,  and  their  love,  to  one  common  fo- 
cus, at  the  homely  hearth,  where  all  is  confi- 
dence, and  cheerfulness,  and  affection,  and  their 
hearts  are  cemented  by  song  and  prayer.  The 
general  tendency  of  forces,  in  this  world  of 
selfishness,  is  repellant  from  all  good  centres 
towards  individualism.  Christianity  counter- 
acts this  tendency  by  the  introduction  of  a  new 
force,  drawing  men  to  a  new  centre,  which  is 
superior  to  all  selfish  rej)ellances.  True  re- 
ligion is  the  strongest  surety  for  domestic  love. 
As  in  a  family,  whose  several  members  reach 
adult  life  with  their  distinct  residences  and  in- 
terests, affection  is  kept  alive  by  a  common  re- 
lation to  the  parent  stock,  so  religion  comes  in 
with    its   community  of  relations,   hopes,  and 


212  THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

blessings,  to  foster  the  sentiment  of  family  af- 
fection tlirougliout  whole  communities.  Theo- 
ries of  socialism  have  been  elaborated  by  men ; 
but  the  most  potent  law  for  social  good  is  that 
ordained  of  God  in  religious  faith  and  worshij). 
By  this,  men  of  all  conditions,  the  most  dissim- 
ilar as  to  rank,  occupation,  wealth,  and  intel- 
lect, are  brought  together  in  unity  at  a  point 
so  high,  that  it  is  above  all  ordinary  human  re- 
pulsions. Wonder  not  that  the  sentiment  of 
nationality  was  so  intense  among  the  Jews, 
while  flowing  together  from  all  the  glens  of  the 
vine  and  the  olive  they  chaunted  the  same  psalms 
in  their  convergent  paths,  to  the  same  worship 
in  their  metroj^olitan  temple.  The  apct  of  re- 
ligious worship  exalts  us  above  all  subordinate 
distinctions.  It  is  frightful  to  think  what  vio- 
lent collisions  might,  at  any  time,  occur  be- 
tween the  different  classes  of  society,  if  natural 
jealousies,  envyings,  and  hatreds  were  not  mod- 
ified or  displaced  by  the  bringing  in  of  a  bet- 
ter life.  The  rich  and  the  poor  meet  together 
at  the  same  altars  of  worship.  The  ordinary 
distinctions  of  race,  language,  com]3lexion,  and 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     213 

condition,  are  obliterated  by  tbis  magnificent 
idea  of  a  common  fatber,  a  common  Redeemer, 
and  a  common  beaven.  Social  worsbij)  in  fam- 
ilies, and  in  cburcbes,  is  a  power  for  tbe  preser- 
vation and  blessing  of  society,  wbicb,  tbougb 
we  can  only  glance  at  it  now,  deserves  tbe 
gratitude  of  our  race  for  its  most  potent  cen- 
tripetal attraction.  Wbile  some  of  tbe  Psalms 
are  specially  suited  for  secret  devotion,  tbe 
great  body  of  tbis  inspired  liturgy  is  designed 
for  social  worsbip  ;  and  so  great  is  tbe  deligbt 
of  Sabbatb  songs ;  so  great  tbeir  power  over 
all  our  faculties,  our  natural  affections,  our 
religious  fellowsbips,  suffusing  eye  and  beart 
witb  joy  wbile  actually  engaged  in  tbeir  use ; 
and  so  great  tbeir  influence  over  us,  as  tbey  linger 
in  our  memories,  that  we  are  disposed  to  say, 
to  all  wbo  tbus  keep  tbe  Cbristian  Sabbatb, 
tbat  if  tbis  be  not  tbe  way  to  beaven,  we  know 
not  wbere  or  bow  to  find  it. 

Attem2:)ts  bave  frequently  been  made  to  car- 
icature wbat  bas  been  called  tbe  Puritan  Sab- 
hatli^  as  tbougb  it  were  a  gloomy  and  austere 
institution,  from  wbicb  nature  revolts.     Time 


214  THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

works  out  the  sure  vindication  of  sucli  as  are 
maligned  by  prejudice.  To  comprehend  just 
what  the  English  puritan  was,  and  what  he  in- 
tended, you  must  go  back  to  his  times  and  cir- 
cumstances, and  understand  the  antagonistic 
forces  against  which  he  testified.  When  the 
monarchy  and  churchmen  of  England  under- 
took to  compel  Christian  freemen  to  acts  which 
conscience  forbad,  it  was  the  most  natural  of  all 
things,  that  opjDosing  testimony  should  put  on 
its  most  vigorous  expression  for  the  sake  of 
contrast.  When  King  James  issued  his  "  Book 
of  Sports,"  and  commanded  the  people  to  visit 
bear-gardens  on  the  Sabbath-day,  it  was  a  mat- 
ter of  course  that  the  brave  men,  who  were 
called  to  ojDj^ose  that  desecration,  should  on 
their  way  to  conventicle  give  an  unusual  length 
and  gravity  to  their  countenances,  and  occasion- 
ally an  intentional  twang  to  their  songs,  for 
the  very  purpose  of  making  a  defiant  protest. 
Some  time  was  necessary  for  the  pendulum 
swung  violently  to  an  extreme  to  return  to 
a  just  medium,  and  for  the  strained  features 
to  relax  into  a  more  natural  expression.     Nei- 


THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH.  215 

tlier  laughter  nor  seriousness  are  matters  of 
legislation  or  compulsion.  Caricature,  false- 
hood, and  badinage  set  aside,  we  should  honest- 
ly say,  that  few  men,  and  few  homes,  on  the 
earth,  knew  so  much  of  cheerfulness,  and  peace- 
ful enjoyment,  and  true  contentment,  and  relig- 
ious delight,  as  our  Puritan  ancestry  in  their 
Christian  Sabbaths. 

The  religious  employments  of  the  Sabbath 
are  divided  between  worship  and  instruction. 
Conceive  the  effect  produced  upon  the  intellect' 
ual  character  of  those  who,  obedient  to  the 
law  of  heaven,  give  a  seventh  part  of  their 
time  to  such  high  occupations.  In  countries 
where  worship  is  resolved  into  "  bodily  exer- 
cise," or  the  use  of  dead  languages,  or  sacerdotal 
vicarship,  and  religious  instruction  is  scanty 
and  meagre,  we  could  not  assert  much  in  re- 
gard to  the  intellectual  benefits  of  the  Sabbath. 
Let  us  come  where  a  free  Christianity  has  built 
its  nest ;  where  the  Word  of  God  is  in  the  hands 
of  all  the  people ;  and  the  Christian  pulpit  un- 
dertakes nothino^  less  than  to  induce  men  to 
think,  to  comj)are,  to  judge,  to  reason,  with 


216     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

reference  to  those  liigli  concerns  wliicli  God  has 
communicated  for  our  instruction.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  Sabbath,  simply  as  an  educational 
institution,  is  beyond  all  measurement.  '^  The 
entrance  of  tliy  woiid  givetli  liglit ;  it  givetli 
understanding  to  the  simple."  This  "  pearl  of 
days"  is  enclosed  and  protected  from  all  other 
jDursuits,  that  it  may  be  given  to  those  truths 
which  are  of  transcend  ant  moment.  There  is 
no  knowledge  like  that  which  pertains  to  God, 
and  redemption,  and  immortality.  Other 
kinds  of  knowledge  have  their  limitations ; 
but  this  is  related  to  infinitude,  and  so  gives 
elevation  to  every  mind  that  receives  it.  Even 
suppose  that  the  Sabbath  is  passed,  as  of  ne- 
cessity it  is  by  many,  in  the  absence  of  profes- 
sional preaching,  but  in  the  use  of  the  fewest 
and  simplest  treatises  of  religion,  the  church 
catechism,  the  hymn  book,  and  the  Word  of 
God.  Let  these  be  read  in  cottage  homes,  and 
what  a  dignity  and  greatness  do  they  give  to 
personal  character.  Under  such  an  influence, 
you  will  see  those  in  humblest  life  gradually 
lifted  up  to  a  grandeur  of  soul  which  has  no 


THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH.  217 

pride  in  it.  They  are  made  familiar  with 
great  thoughts  ;  they  are  raised  out  of  drudg- 
ery, misery  and  contempt,  by  the  conviction 
which  revelation  inspires,  that  their  true  inter- 
ests pertain  to  another  life.  Add  to  this  gen- 
eral influence  of  religion,  the  effect  produced 
by  constant  attendance  upon  Christian  preach- 
ing- 
It  would  not  be  fair  to  draw  our  illustra- 
tions, in  this  regard,  from  those  who  enjoy  the 
ministrations  of  the  great  lights  of  the  pulpit. 
Men  might  confess  the  influence  exerted  upon 
the  intellect  of  a  community,  by  the  preaching 
of  Owen,  and  Howe,  and  Krummacher,  and 
Chalmers,  and  Edwards,  who  have  not  reflect- 
ed much  upon  the  prodigious  effects  which  fol- 
low the  ordinary  fidelity  of  the  parish  pulj^it. 
By  what  an  insensible;  process  is  a  whole  gen- 
eration taught  to  think  and  reason,  in  regard 
to  things  divine,  by  an  habitual  attendance  on 
public  worship !  Most  of  what  are  called  "  Sys- 
tems of  Theology" — I  refer  now  to  those  which 
have  been  published  in  our  own  country,  and 
no  country  has  been  more  prolific  of  them — 
10 


218  THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

those  of  Edwards,  and  Dwiglit,  and  Emmons, 
and  Hopkins,  were  originally  preaclied  as  ser- 
mons on  the  Sabbath-day.     No  one  wonld  ask 
to  be  informed  concerning  the  effect  produced 
by  such  preaching  on  the  intellect  of  a  town,  or 
county  ;  but  set  aside  the  intellectual  influence 
of  men,  whom  to  have  heard  would  be  res^arded 
as  a  privilege  by  any,  and  think  a  moment  of 
the  results  likely  to  follow  the  preaching  of 
any  educated  minister,  who,  week  after  week, 
month  after  month,  year  after  year,  addresses 
the  reason,  the  conscience,  the  affections,  of  any 
people.     We  can  only  compare  it,  as  it  has 
been  compared  in  Scripture,  to  the  dews  and 
the  gentle  rains   which   distil   on  the   plants. 
The  words  were  adroitly  chosen  by  Lord  Stan- 
ley, when  intending  to  give  edge  to  certain  an- 
ti23athies    against    the   Christian    Sabbath   he 
said,  "  I  believe  that  the  exclusive  aj)propriation 
of  the  day  of  rest,  in  popular  opinion,  to  sub- 
jects exclusively  theological  lies  infinitely  more 
than  want  of  education  at  the  bottom  of  that 
ignorance  which  we  all  deplore.^'     Excliisivelij 
tlieological !   What  a  well-chosen  shaft  of  preju- 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     219 

dice  !  Wlio  ever  advocated  sucli  a  use  of  tlie 
entire  Christian  Sabbatli  ?  How  small  a  por- 
tion of  time,  indeed,  is  given  simply  to  the  ser- 
mon, and  this  associated,  as  we  have  before 
observed,  with  songs,  and  charities,  and  acts  of 
usefulness,  and  domestic  delights,  which  give 
to  the  day  its  peculiar  joy.  But  aside  from 
reasoning,  what  is  the  testimony  of  facts  ?  Igno- 
rance broods  in  your  Sabbathless  districts ; 
and  the  more  the  Sabbath  is  honoured,  the  high- 
er is  the  intellectual  standard  of  the  people. 
Kigidly  observed,  the  Sabbath  invaiiably  pro- 
motes intelligence  and  manliness.  And  here 
let  me  adduce  another  fact  bearing  on  the 
same  point.  The  expression  which  I  have 
just  quoted  from  a  member  of  the  British  Par- 
liament occurred  during  a  debate  in  that  body, 
in  reference  to  the  expediency  of  opening 
places  of  amusement  in  the  city,  on  the  Sab- 
bath-day ;  and  the  speaker  who  most  zealously 
advocated  what  he  himself  called  the  "  French 
Sunday,"  used,  for  an  argument,  this  fiict  or 
assertion  :  that  all  recreations  and  amusements 
allowed  and  fostered  on  the  Continent,  by  vari- 


220     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

ous  monarchies  tended  most  liajipily  to  keep 
the  people  in  a  state  of  quietude  and  content- 
ment. This  was  at  a  time  of  j)oliticaI  agita- 
tion and  apjDrehension,  and  diversion  of  mind 
on  the  Sabbath-day  is  urged  as  a  plea  for  what 
we  would  call  its  desecration.  How  much, 
whether  intentionally  or  unintentionally,  is 
covered  uj)  beneath  this  argument.  To  keep 
men  quiet,  give  them  a  Sabbath  which  will 
amuse  them ;  which  implies  that  the  other 
kind  of  Sabbath-keeping  makes  men  think 
too  much ;  and  thinking  makes  men  restless 
under  oppression,  and  such  men  are  dangerous ! 
A  most  extraordinary  corollary  we  admit ;  to 
which  we  reply,  that  the  contentment  which 
proceeds  from  unthinking  ignorance  is  the 
least  desirable  of  all  conditions ;  and  restless- 
ness, which  comes  from  intelligence,  is  dan- 
gerous to  nothing  but  despotism. 

All  this  is  testimony  in  support  of  the  posi- 
tion we  have  taken :  that  the  Sabbath,  rightly 
observed,  invariably  promotes  intelligence,  by 
affoi^ding  time  for  man's  spiritual  nature  to 
emerge  from  the  flood  of  worldly  avocations, 


THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH.  221 

and  feeding  it  with  its  proper  pabulum ;  that 
thinking  and  reading  and  hearing  on  one  sub- 
ject, and  that  the  grandest  of  all,  accustoms 
man  to  thinking  on  all  other  subjects ;  that 
familiarity  with  our  relations  to  God  educates 
us  to  true  greatness,  making  a  "man  more 
precious  than  gold,  a  man  than  the  golden 
wedge  of  Ophir;"  so  that  those  countries  where 
the  Sabbath  is  most  carefully  kept  and  hon- 
oured are  the  most  intelligent,  the  most  free,  the 
most  advanced  in  civilization,  while  ignorance 
and  depression  keep  pace  with  the  desecration 
of  holy  time. 

It  remains  that  we  should  speak  of  another 
benefit  of  the  Sabbath,  and  that  the  chief  of 
all:  its  effect  upon  personal  morality  and 
religion.  And  here  we  are  thrown  back 
immediately  upon  the  divine  origin  and  au- 
thority of  the  Sabbath.  The  substance  of  the 
first  table  of  the  law,  comprising  within  four 
specific  commandments  all  the  obligations  of 
piety,  are  condensed  into  this  compendium — 
supreme  love  to  God  in  the  heart — and  this 
expressed,  in  worship,  in  reverent  speech,  and  in 


222     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

use  of  holy  time.  This  sejDaration,  by  statute, 
of  one  day  in  seven,  to  bear  the  name  of  God, 
in  a  special  sense,  is  the  stejDping  forth  of  God 
out  of  remoteness  and  mystery  into  time,  and 
confrontinsr  his  creatures  with  a  demand  which 
tests,  instantly,  their  pious  regard  for  his 
authority.  The  whole  of  time  is  to  be  passed 
in  a  manner  becoming  those  who  regard  them- 
selves as  the  stewards  of  God — the  whole  is 
God's;  but  the  Sabbath-day  is  distinguished 
from  all  other  days,  in  this  respect,  that  the 
mode  of  its  observance  is  specified  by  divine 
requirements;  consequently,  the  question  of 
deferring  to  the  authority  of  the  Supreme,  or 
asserting  our  personal  will,  must,  inevitably, 
be  decided  by  our  regard  or  disregard  for  the 
Sabbatical  statute.  Obey  it,  honour  it,  and 
piety  finds  its  expression :  disobey  it,  dishonour 
it,  and  impious  self-assertion  makes  its  first  open 
demonstration.  In  this  view  the  Sabbath  is  a 
special  ordinance  for  bringing  man  into  the 
presence  of  his  Maker,  by  applying  a  test 
which  developes  the  principle  of  religious 
obedience.     If  it  were  so  that  we  could  not 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     223 

perceive  tlie  effect  of  Sabbatli  occupations  iu 
giving  life  and  vigor  to  religious  affections ; 
yet  the  fact  that  God  himself,  by  an  arbitrary 
decree,  if  you  will,  has  commanded  the  conse- 
cration of  the  day,  makes  it  certain  that  the 
mode  of  its  observance  will  prove  the  presence 
or  the  absence  of  true  piety. 

The  same  in  regard  to  the  bearing  of  the 
Sabbath  on  morality  as  well  as  piety.  It  was  the 
remark,  not  of  a  churchman  but  of  a  jurist,  and 
he,  the  first  of  his  class,  Blackstone,  "  that  a  cor- 
rugation of  morals  usually  follows  a  profanation 
of  the  Sabbath."  Why  it  is  so  is  very  obvious. 
The  connecction  is  not  accidental  but  certain. 
True  morality  is  based  on  true  religion.  The  best 
surety  that  a  man  will  do  right  in  all  his  rela- 
tions to  his  fellow-men  is  in  a  purjDose  to  do  light 
in  his  relations  to  God.  There  is  a  distinction 
recognized  in  the  decalogue  between  the  two 
tables  of  the  law —  the  one  containing  our  di- 
rect duty  to  God,  the  other  our  duties  to  men. 
Now  it  is  true  that  the  requisitions  of  morality 
have  been  proved,  and  found  to  be  coincident 
with  all  the  suggestions  of  personal  wisdom 


224  THE    BENEFITS    OF   THE    SABBATH. 

and  prudence.  Moreover,  the  combined  in- 
fluences of  the  law  and  gospel  have,  by  this 
time,  produced  a  form  of  civilization  in  which 
inducements  to  immorality  become  fewer  and 
weaker,  while  morality  is  discovered  to  be  the 
method  of  all  expediency.  But  an  ultimate 
analysis  proves  that  the  foundation  of  morality 
is  not  in  exjDediency  or  a  prudent  calculation 
of  success,  but  in  the  eternal  commandment  of 
God.  Now  suppose  that  the  authority  of  the 
Supreme  is  disregarded  as  to  a  particular  pre- 
cept :  that  when  God  comes  forth  to  meet  his 
creatures  in  actual  time,  confronting  them  with 
a  statute  which  demands  a  peculiar  observance 
of  one  day  in  seven,  there  is  evinced  a  disposi- 
tion to  dispute  and  disobey  that  authority,  and 
impiety  makes  its  first  protest  and  resistance ;  so 
far  as  divine  obligation  is  concerned,  you  have 
sapped  the  foundations  of  morality  also,  and  the 
only  thing  which  remains  claiming  the  name, 
is  a  thin  superficial  enamel  which  flakes  off  at 
the  first  touch  of  passionate  will.  Popular 
virtue  must  have  for  its  root  faith  in  God,  and 
not  a   selfish  regard   for  worldly  advantage; 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     225 

and  faitli  in  God  there  cannot  be  in  disregard 
of  his  positive  statute. 

But     this    is   not    all   that   can    be    said 
concernino;   the   relations  of  the   Sabbath   to 
pei^onal    and    national    morality.      We    are 
instructed  as  to  the  mode  in  which  the  Sab- 
bath should  be  observed.     Its  occupations  are 
peculiar;   worship,  instruction,  and  the  direct 
and  exclusive  action  of  our  minds  in  regard  to 
matters  of    Christian   privilege   and   spiritual 
intellection.     There  is  a  sense  in   which   our 
daily  work  is  religious.      It  should   be  con- 
ducted on  religious  principles,  and  in  a  spirit 
of  obedience  to  Him  who  gives  us  all  things. 
But  there  cannot  be  religion  without  v,^oi^hip, 
and  worship  cannot  be  without  time.    So  need- 
ful is  special  time  for   purposes  of   devotion 
— for  coming  to  the  surface  and  inhaling  the 
vital  air — that  we  are  required,  day  by  day  to 
enter  into  our  closet  and  pray  to  our  Father 
who  is  in  secret.     These  intervals  of  secret  or 
family  worship  during  the  week  are  like  the 
prayers  of  labourers  with  implements  in  their 
hands,  of  soldiers  with  armour  on,  just  lifting 
10* 


226     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

tlie  helmet  for  an  occasional  ejaculation.  Then 
comes  the  Christian  Sabbath,  the  whole  of 
which  is  to  be  given  immediately,  directly  and 
exclusively  to  truth,  and  worship,  and  religi- 
ous communion.  What  is  duty  for  the  six 
days  is  not  duty  on  the  seventh.  What  is  the 
high  privilege  of  the  Sabbath — a  whole  day  of 
sacred  leisure,  imbibing  instructions  out  of 
the  Scriptures,  or  giving  instruction  to  others, 
is  not  the  common  privilege  of  our  race  on 
other  days  of  the  week.  The  grand  reason 
w^hy  men  are  so  little  affected  by  the  obliga- 
tions of  religion  is,  that  they  are  so  com- 
pletely immersed  in  the  cares  of  this  life,  that 
they  have  no  space  for  thinking  of  the  life  to 
come.  And  if  the  method  which  heaven  has 
ordained  for  the  soul's  edification  in  things 
spiritual  and  divine,  were  to  be  dropped  out 
of  observance,  it  would  be,  for  the  generality 
of  the  people,  as  the  breaking  down  of  the  dam 
which  now  dykes  out  the  sea — the  mad  waves 
would  roll  over  them  and  drown  them  in  per- 
dition. 

If  we  are  not  able  to  discern  all  the  blessed 


THE    BENEFITS    OF    THE    SABBATH.  227 

effects  which  we  might  expect  to  result  from 
the  Sabbath,  it  must  be  owing  to  mistakes  or 
defects  in  the  mode  of  its  observance.  Con- 
sider what  a  power  it  is  in  the  world — God's 
special  appointment  for  the  world's  improve- 
ment. So  silently  and  gently  do  these  Sabbatlis 
pass,  that  we  are  unmindful  of  the  tremendous 
accumulation  of  power  which  they  represent  in 
the  aggregate.  The  seventh  part  of  human 
life  to  be  rescued  from  secular  concerns,  and 
given  to  God  and  heaven !  A  young  man  of 
twenty-one,  your  Sabbaths  are  already  to  be 
computed  in  years  —  three  whole  years  of 
holy  time.  A  man  of  fifty,  you  have  had  your 
seven  years  of  Christian  Sabbaths.  A  man 
of  three  score  years  and  ten,  your  Sabbaths 
amount  to  ten  whole  years  of  time  !  We  can 
not  say  how  wisely,  how  faithfully,  how  reli- 
giously you  have  kept  them,  but  this  is  certain, 
together  they  constitute  a  prodigious  power  for 
the  shaping  of  character;  and  if  you  have 
valued  and  improved  each  as  it  came  and 
passed,  you  are  in  no  need  of  testimony  from 
without   as  to  their  influence  on   intellectual 


228     THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

culture,  on  personal  prosperity,  on  social  im- 
provement, on  spiritual  hopes. 

GocVs  method  of  dealing  with  error  when 
He  has  described  it,  and  forbidden  it,  and  de- 
nounced it,  if  men  are  bent  on  practising  it,  is 
to  allow  them  to  work  out  their  convictions  by 
an  actual  experiment.  A  glance  at  geography 
would  be  the  best  testimony  as  to  the  benefits 
of  the  Sabbath ;  for  where  it  is  honoured  and 
loved  the  most  there  is  the  greatest  amount 
of  intelligence  and  freedom,  and  happiness, 
and  morality,  and  religion. 

We  have  predictions  of  many  kinds  as  to 
the  future  of  the  human  race.  It  would  seem 
that  as  Columbus  saw,  from  the  mast-head  of 
the  Pinta,  certain  red  berries  and  green  stalks 
floating  on  the  sea,  the  signs  of  approach  to  land, 
men  were  detecting  here  and  there  some  indica- 
tions of  a  future  civilization  which  is  sure  to  be 
realized.  But  the  word  of  God  is  our  certain 
pledge  of  that  ultimate  blessedness.  Just  how 
much  is  intended  in  the  literal  construction  of 
prophecy — -just  what  we  are  to  believe  as  to 
the  effect  of  true  religion  on  health  and  length 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH.     229 

of  days  and  secular  prosperity,  as  the  last  iii- 
lieritance  of  society,  we  cannot  say.  But  tlie 
promise  of  the  Scriptures  is  exquisitely  beautiful. 
"  There  shall  be  no  more  thence  an  infant  of 
days,  nor  an  old  man  that  hath  not  filled  his 
days :  for  the  child  shall  die  an  hundred  years 
old.  .  .  .  And  they  shall  build  houses  and  in- 
habit them,  and  they  shall  plant  vineyards  and 
eat  the  fruit  of  them.  .  .  .  For  as  the  days  of  a 
tree  are  the  days  of  my  people,  and  mine  elect 
shall  long  enjoy  the  work  of  their  hands."  And 
the  coronation  of  this  magnificent  promise  is 
"  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  from  one  Sabbath 
to  another  shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship  be- 
fore me,  saith  the  Lord."  Eecall  the  happiest 
Sabbath  which  ever  you  have  enjoyed.  I  will 
not  ask  you  to  picture  such  an  one  as  has  been 
portrayed  by  the  sweet  genius  of  Geo.  Herbert, 
but  such  as  you  remember  yourself — calm, 
tranquil,  happy,  with  domestic  love,  and  pub- 
lic worship,  and  the  clear  shining  of  the  truth ; 
and  suppose  that  to  become  universal  upon  the 
earth !  What  more  is  necessary  to  realize  all 
the  hopes  and  destinies  of  the  world;  vigorous 


230  THE    BENEFITS    OF   THE    SABBATH. 

liealtli,  long  life,  sacred  leisure,  clear  minds 
purged  from  ignorance  and  prejudice,  hap- 
py hearts  overfloTvdng  with  love  to  God  and 
man,  and  holy  lives  consecrated  to  truth,  and 
duty,  and  well-doing.  Let  it  be  the  encourage- 
ment of  all  who  now  testify  in  behalf  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  who  devise  and  labour  and  j)ray 
for  its  better  observance,  to  know  that  this 
universal  Sabbath  will  certainly  come. 

Six  thousand,  years  of  sorrow  have  well-nigh 
Fulfilled  their  tardy  and  disastrous  course 
Over  a  sinful  world  :  and  what  remains 
Of  this  tempestuous  state  of  human  things 
Is  merely  as  the  working  of  the  sea 
Before  a  calm  that  rocks  itself  to  rest. 

When  that  day  shall  come,  as  through  the  re- 
covering 23ower  of  God's  Word,  and  Spirit,  and 
Son  it  surely  will,  heaven  and  earth  will  be 
blended  together;  and  all  who  have  honour- 
ed the  Sabbath  on  earth,  shall  enjoy  a  Sabbath 
without  end  in  heaven. 


CIVIL   RELATIONS  OF  THE  SABBATH, 


REV.  A.  H.  VINTON,  D.  T>. 

RECTOR   OF  ST.  MARk'S   CHTTRCH,  NEW  YORK. 


litottti^  ai  ilu  Mixbkxik 


"  If  thou  turn  away  tuy  foot  fuom  the  Sabbath,  from  doing  thy 

PLEASURE  ox  MY  HOLY  DAY,  AND  CALL  THE  SaBBATH  A  DELIGHT,  THE  HOLT 

OP  THE  Lord,  honourable  ;  and  shalt  honour  Him,  not  doing  thine 

OWN  WAYS,  NOR  FINDING  THINE  OWN  PLEASURE,  NOR  SPEAKING  THINE  OWN 
words:  THEN  SHALT  THOU  DELIGHT  THYSELF  IN  THE  LORD  ;  AND  I  WILL  EX- 
ALT THEE  TO  RIDE  UPON  THE  HIGH  PLACES  OF  THE  EARTH,  AND  FEED  THEE 
WITH  THE    HERITAGE    OP   JaCOB  THY  FATHER,  FOR  THE    MOUTH  OF   THE    LoRD 

HATH  SPOKEN  IT." — Isuiah  Iviii.  13,  14. 

It  sometimes  happens  in  our  dealings  witli 
nature,  or  art,  or  institutions,  that  some  emer- 
gency obliges  us  to  go  back  to  the  beginning 
to  explore  the  roots,  readjust  the  foundations, 
and  rescue  and  restore  first  principles. 

So  it  has  happened  in  reference  to  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath. 

Adopted  by  this  nation  with  the  common 
Law  of  England,  with  w^hich  the  Sabbath  was 
inwrought,  warp  and  woof;  recognized  again 
and  again  by  our  legislation  throughout  the 
land  as  peculiar  and  sacred  time ;  a  day  shut 
out  from  the  rano^e  of  secular  business,  a  non- 
legal  day ;  cherished,  too,  by  the  people  as  the 
mother  of  many  rich  and  rare  social  T)lessings, 


23-i        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

the  Sabbatli  has  at  length  begun  in  some  quar- 
ters to  suffer  a  j^er version  ^^hich,  hj  changing 
holyday  privileges  into  holiday  amusements, 
and  construing  the  exemption  from  legal  obliga- 
tions as  a  freedom  from  legal  restraints,  has 
amounted  to  desecration.  Then,  as  a  natural 
consequence,  the  whole  theory  of  the  Sabbath 
has  been  contested. 

Its  authority,  its  perjoetuity,  its  sacredness 
and  its  design  have  been  contradicted  by  argu- 
ment, as  they  had  already  been  resisted  by 
practice. 

Hence  the  origin  of  this  series  of  sermons,  as 
well  as  of  other  means  to  vindicate  and  set  on 
their  true  position  the  claims  of  the  Sabbath  in 
its  various  uses  to  man. 

In  lending  such  help  as  I  may  to  this  en- 
deavour, my  special  theme  is  the  Sabl:)ath  in  its 
relations  to  the  State,  with  the  consideration 
of  some  of  its  safeo-uards. 

Our  text  brings  very  distinctly  to  view  the 
civil  advantages  of  a  right  observance  of  the 
Sabbath. 

'•  If  thou  call  the  Sabbath  the  holy  of  the 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        285 

Lord,  honourable,  and  slialt  honour  Ilim,  not 
doing  thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own 
pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine  own  words,  I  will 
exalt  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the 
earth,  and  feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob 
thy  father,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it." 

Here  w^e  have  a  religious  act  followed  by  na- 
tional and  civil  benefits.  They  are  linked  to- 
gether as  cause  and  effect,  at  least  so  far  as  the 
Jewish  nation  Avas  concerned.  It  was,  indeed, 
an  abiding  characteristic  of  that  Divine  polity 
under  which  the  descendants  of  Abraham  were 
bred,  that  religious  obedience  began  temporal 
blessings.  And  since  the  j)rinciples  of  the  Di- 
vine government  are  unchangeable,  and  since 
the  Sabbath  is  as  much  ours  as  theirs,  why 
should  not  the  same  links  of  connexion  remain 
unbroken  ? 

The  origin  of  the  Sabbath  back  in  the  crea- 
tive epoch,  when  God  rested  from  his  works, 
and  when  there  was  only  one  human  family 
on  the  earth,  proves  that  the  Sabbath  was 
meant  to  be  not  Jewish,  but  Adamic.     More- 


236        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

over,  the  Saviour's  declaration,  "  the  Sabbatli 
was  made  for  man,"  although  spoken  for  another 
and  a  specific  purpose,  seems  to  carry  with  it  the 
idea  of  universality.  If  the  Sabbath  was  made 
for  man,  why  not  for  all  men — for  the  whole  race  ? 
And  thus  again  the  Sabbath  is  not  national 
and  local,  but  generic  and  general.  So  that  in 
either  of  the  fixed  relations  of  human  life,  the 
Sabbath  is  capable  of  being  a  boon  and  a  bless- 
ing to  man.  Among  those  fixed  relations  stands 
the  national  life  of  man.  His  social  nature  works 
out  spontaneously  into  this  form  as  one  of  its 
necessary  and  vital  developments.  While  the 
domestic  relation  into  which  every  man  is  born 
creates  the  sphere  of  those  familiar  affections, 
which  we  call  home  feelings,  makes  home  the 
dearest  word  in  human  speech,  makes  the  family 
circle  the  very  realm  of  the  heart's  regency, 
and  makes  the  family  institution  a  per]3etual 
necessity  of  human  nature ;  and  while,  again, 
the  religious  instinct  of  man  embodies  and 
represents  itself  in  that  standing  organization 
which  we  call  the  visible  church,  so  likewise 
does   the   same   law  of  social   necessity  urge 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        237 

and  drive  out  his  nature  into  that  other  form 
of  development,  which  groups  the  whole  race 
into  nations  and  states. 

The  world  has  never  been  without  the  sev- 
eral forms  of  national  life,  as  a  part  of  the 
fixed  constitution  of  human  society ;  and  what- 
ever, therefore,  can  do  good  or  harm  to  man's 
essential  nature ;  whatever  was  meant  for  the 
generic  man,  must  take  in  his  national  as  much 
as  his  domestic  or  ecclesiastical  connexion. 

The  Sabbath  was  designed,  no  doubt,  as  the 
type  of  a  public  religious  life,  and  it  pre-sup- 
poses,  therefore,  the  importance  of  religion  to 
every  community  for  whom  the  Sabbath  was 
appointed.  How  important,  then,  is  religion 
to  the  life  of  the  State,  becomes  in  this  con- 
nexion an  interesting  preliminary  question. 
And  this  question  will  be  found  to  be  ans- 
wered only  in  one  way,  whether  we  consult 
philosophy  or  fact, — the  nature  of  things,  or 
plain  human  history.  The  nature  of  things 
teaches  us,  that  no  civil  government  can  sub- 
sist long  and  effectually,  that  does  not  invoke 
support  from  the  powers  of  another  world.    Its 


238        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

oatlis  and  affirmations  must  reacli  out  into 
eternity.  Its  sovereignty  must  represent  in 
tlie  nation  the  dominion  of  God  in  the  world. 
The  throne  must  be  higher  than  the  earth 
that  men  tread  upon.  The  magistracy  must 
be  girded  with  a  power  that  was  not  born  of 
a  creature.  Its  King  must  be  hedged  with  di- 
vinity. And  loyalty,  submission  and  obedi- 
ence must  have  an  object  higher  than  the  com- 
mon human  preeminence  of  luck,  or  strength, 
or  blood.  The  sentiment  of  reverence,  which 
is  the  prime  element  of  all  religion,  is  the 
mother  of  civil  order  and  the  grand  conserva- 
tor of  law^  It  nurses  the  common  conscience, 
and  holds  the  people  by  the  bonds  of  a  filial 
alleo-iance.  No  matter  what  the  form  of  the 
government,  all  civil  authority  must  gather  to 
itself  somewhat  of  a  religious  sanction,  to  be 
cordially  and  truly  obeyed.  And  history  bears 
out  this  antecedent  evidence  of  reason.  For 
w^here  was  there  ever  a  nation  worthy  to  be 
called  historical,  one  which  had  ever  emerged 
from  mere  animal  barbarism,  with  whom  relig- 
ion was  not  a  prime  power  and  chief  care  ? 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        239 

However  false  tlie  religious  system,  however 
absurd  its  doctrines,  or  superstitious  its  rites, 
tliey  one  and  all  apj)ealed  to  tliat  universal 
instinct  which  distinguishes  man  from  the 
brutes,  and  suggests  the  powerful  motives  that 
belong  to  eternity;  hopes  and  fears  which, 
though  often  eiToneous  or  extreme,  betoken 
the  superiority  of  his  nature,  and  by  their  very 
existence  prove  him  to  be  a  subject  of  the 
highest,  moral  government. 

In  Egypt,  and  among  the  Orientals,  religion 
was  th^  chief  object  of  the  State.  This  was 
the  only  tie  that  held  the  Grecian  tribes 
together  as  a  commonwealth.  The  Amphyc- 
tionic  Council,  the  great  reserved  fountain  of 
authority  to  the  Greek  States,  was  instituted 
for  no  other  purpose  than  the  regulation  of 
religion.  The  ancient  Koman  constitution  was 
characterized  by  the  same  feature;  to  which 
their  great  statesman  and  orator  attributes  all 
their  national  preeminence;  for  says  Cicero, 
"  Though  we  have  been  surpassed  in  population 
by  the  Spaniards — in  physical  force  by  the 
Gauls,  in  shrewdness  and  cunning  by  Carthage, 


240        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

ill  tlie  fine  arts  by  Greece,  and  in  mere  native 
talent  by  some  of  our  Italian  fellow-country- 
men ;  yet,  in  tlie  single  point  of  attention  to 
religion,  we  have  excelled  all  other  nations ; 
and  it  is  to  the  favourable  influence  of  this  fact 
uj^on  the  character  of  the  peo23le,  that  I  ascribe 
our  success  in  acquiring  the  jDolitical  and  mili- 
tary ascendancy  that  we  enjoy  throughout  the 
world." 

If  we  follow  down  the  times,  we  find  the 
religious  feature  prominent,  if  not  j)redominant, 
in  the  various  forms  of  civil  society,  and 
through  the  progressive  phases  of  national  life ; 
and  so  nearly  universal,  that  when  we  meet  the 
one  solitary  exception,  now  become  proverbial, 
in  which  a  nation  deliberately  rejected  all 
religious  faith,  and  strangled  on  system  the 
religious  instinct  of  human  nature,  we  halt  to 
mark  the  issue  of  such  a  monstrous  exj^eriment 
with  man's  moral  vitality ;  and  as  we  see  it 
culminatino;  in  the  reio^n  of  terror,  wrenchino: 
asunder  the  limbs  and  ligaments  of  the  body 
politic,  and  blotting  one  whole  generation-page 
of  history  with  human  blood,  we  turn  away 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        241 

witt  the  shuddering  conviction  that  he  who 
denies  religion  to  the  nation  is  guilty  of  a  cruel 
falsehood,  against  which  nature  protests,  and 
which  time  will  refute  in  a  nation's  wailing  and 
tears. 

If  thus  much  may  be  claimed  in  general  for 
the  value  of  religion  to  the  well-being  of  the 
state,  let  us  see  how  much  more  forcible  these 
considerations  become  when  applied  to  our 
national  life  and  our  peculiar  institutions.  For 
we  have  inaugurated  a  system  of  government 
which  has  no  strict  precedent  or  parallel  in 
history.  It  has  difficulties  all  its  own,  over- 
balanced, however,  by  capabilities  which  ren- 
der it  potentially  the  highest  style  of  civil 
society. 

Its  difficulties  are  compressed  and  denoted 
by  its  very  title  —  a  free  government.  The 
seeming  contradiction  of  these  words  is  only  an 
exponent  of  the  antagonisms  which  must  be 
practically  harmonized  to  bring  the  govern- 
ment into  working  order  and  insure  its  success. 
"  To  make  a  government,"  says  Mr.  Burke,  "  is 

one  of  the  easiest  things.     It  is  only  for  one  to 
11 


242        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

command  and  for  the  others  to  obey.  To  give 
freedom  is  likewise  easy.  It  is  only  to  relax 
all  control,  and  let  men  do  as  they  will. 
But  to  make  a  fi-ee  government  is  the  most 
difficult  achievement  of  man's  reason." 

The  ground  of  the  remark  is  obvious  enough ; 
for  government,  of  whatever  sort,  implies  con- 
trol of  some  sort,  and  a  free  government  is 
essentially  a  self-government. 

The  plain  peculiarity  of  such  a  government  is 
that  the  authority  springs  up  from  within  itself. 

Other  governments  are  imposed  upon  the 
people — this  grows  up  among  the  people.  In 
other  governments  the  people  are  compacted 
and  hooped  around  by  pressure.  In  a  free 
government  they  are  fused  and  mingled  by  an 
internal  process  into  a  solid  mass. 

The  one  is  a  diluvium,  and  the  other  a 
conglomerate. 

The  phrase  self-government  implies  a  duality 
of  nature  with  oneself  to  govern  and  another 
self  to  be  governed.  Every  human  ^personality 
is  a  twofold  self ;  the  one  comprising  man's  ap- 
petites, his  passions,  his  will — in  a  word,  his 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        2-i3 

selfishness ;  and  the  other  comprehencling  his 
reason,  his  conscience,  and  whatever  gives 
human  nature  its  true  and  immortal  dignity. 

This  is  the  higher  and  the  true  self  of  man, 
to  which  the  attribute  of  sovereignty  belongs. 

He  is  not  truly  self-governed  who  surrenders 
himself  to  the  dominion  of  his  propensities,  and 
lets  the  nobler  self  be  conquered  and  ruled  by 
the  less  noble.  He  is  the  victim  rather  of 
bondage  so  base  that  none  can  be  more 
debasing.  And  this,  which  is  true  of  the 
individual  man,  is  equally  true  when  you 
multiply  the  individual  into  a  community,  and 
enlarge  the  phase  of  character  into  a  grand 
corporate  national  man. 

The  nation  being  but  the  aggregate  of 
individuals,  the  national  life  and  character  is 
the  grand  resultant  product  of  the  affinities, 
combinations,  actions  and  counter-actions  which 
are  constantly  at  work  among  the  people 
themselves. 

A  nation  given  up  to  the  dominion  of  selfish- 
ness and  passion,  would  soon  cease  to  be  a 
nation,  because  it  is  the  property  of  selfishness 


244        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

to  separate  men  and  individualize  them.  In 
tlie  heat  of  personal  passion  the  cement  of 
society  is  dissolved  and  leaks  out — the  com- 
munity is  disintegrated,  the  corporate  nation 
loses  its  organic  life  and  becomes  resolved  into 
the  ashes  to  ashes  and  dust  to  dust  of  political 
chaos,  which  is  anarchy. 

A  popular  government  needs,  then,  above 
all  others,  the  controlling  jDower  of  reason  and 
conscience,  the  first  to  point  out  the  right  ends 
and  means  of  government,  and  the  other  to 
determine  the  right  motives ;  a  power  to  ena- 
ble the  nation  to  stand  sentinel  over  itself,  not 
only  to  defend  its  rights  against  an  invader, 
but  to  hold  its  own  members  in  check ;  not 
only  to  fire  upon  a  foe,  but  to  point  the  bayo- 
net at  the  breast  of  every  truant,  or  insurgent, 
who  would  break  the  bounds  of  discipline  and 
trouble  the  peace  of  its  own  camp.  Now, 
when  we  speak  of  reason  and  conscience,  we 
employ  only  another  name  for  an  enlightened 
religious  sense.  The  nation,  therefore,  must  be 
religious.^  and  as  the  national  life  is  but  the  ag- 
gregate of  individual  lives,  every  citizen  must 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        245 

furnisli  his  quota  of  tlie  aggregate  religion  of 
the  nation.  Nay,  every  citizen  must  be  as 
scrupulously  conscientious  as  if  lie  bore  the 
whole  responsibility  of  the  national  character, 
must  be  inspired  by  the  worthiest  motives  to 
elect  the  worthiest  means,  to  secure  the  worthi- 
est aims  ;  or  in  other  words,  to  carry  out  the 
great  rule  of  social  peace  and  prosperity,  which 
is  expressed  in  the  second  table  of  God's  great 
law,  to  "  love  our  neighbour  as  ourselves."  And 
since  the  law  of  God  is  essentially  a  unit  and 
an  integer,  and  cannot  be  split  into  fragments 
to  be  used  in  part,  and  in  part  rejected ;  since 
there  is  no  true  morality  which  is  not  based  on 
conscience ;  and  since  conscience  has  its  life 
breathed  into  it  only  by  piety,  it  follows  that 
this  national  reliofion  must  take  in  the  first  and 
great  commandment  of  the  moral  code,  and 
hold  itself  as  profoundly  reverent  towards  the 
claims  of  God,  as  it  is  affectionatelv  considerate 
of  the  mutual  lights  and  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple. This  is  the  religion  necessary  to  a  popu- 
lar government,  not  only  in  its  true  theory, 
but  in  its  practical  success  likewise.     For  we 


246        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

can  easily  see  that  wherever  there  is  freedom, 
the  chiefest  danger  of  the  Kepublic  springs 
from  within  rather  than  presses  from  abroad ; 
comes  from  corruption  more  than  from  in- 
vasion ;  and  for  a  like  reason  the  strength 
and  glory  of  a  free  government  are  only 
the  blossoms  of  its  own  virtues  beo^otten 
of  itself,  and  nourished  by  its  own  sap  and 
power  of  right  life.  We  can  see,  there- 
fore, how  the  Divine  promise  to  a  religious 
nation  is  illustrated  by  the  law  of  cause  and 
effect,  and  most  eminently  in  a  popular  govern- 
ment such  as  ours.  Both  the  promise  and  the 
law  warrant  the  conclusion,  that  the  national 
virtue  is  the  guarantee  of  national  prosperity. 
But  this  conclusion  starts  a  fresh  inquiry,  Why 
is  the  Divine  promise  attached  to  a  particular 
form  of  religious  expression,  a  mere  ritual  ser- 
vice ?  Is  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as 
an  outward  institute,  so  necessary  a  proof  of  the 
people's  religion,  that  its  non-observance  will 
entail  the  forfeiture  of  the  Divine  favour  and 
the  failure  of  the  nation  ?  If  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  Sabbath  is  a  condition  without  which 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        2-17 

religion  can  not  tlirive,  then  it  becomes  at  once 
invested  with  all  tlie  solemnity  of  import- 
ance wliich  belongs  to  I'eligion  itself.  As  an 
assigned  and  natural  expression  of  tlie  public 
religion,  it  may  be  regarded  as  inseparable 
from  tlie  existence  of  religion.  The  necessity 
of  some  such  expression  grows  out  of  a  certain 
principle  that  lies  back  in  the  nature  of  things, 
which  may  be  explained  thus.  The  world  is 
only  a  compound  of  two  simple  elements, 
force  and  form^  of  which  each  is  the  comple- 
ment of  the  other.  Take  either  away,  and 
there  is  no  world.  Take  away  force,  and  the 
form  is  a  dead  organism.  Take  away  form, 
and  force  is  such  a  tricksey  and  intangible 
thing,  with  no  outline  or  complexion,  that  we 
have  no  language  to  describe  it.  Thought  it- 
self cannot  arrest  it.  Its  name  is  only  like  the 
X  in  Algebra,  an  unknown  quantity.  Out  of 
this  necessary  constitution  of  force  and  form 
springs  the  great  law  of  expression,  which 
pervades  and  penetrates  the  world.  It  begins 
with  the  widest  generality,  and  ends  in  the 
minutest    particularity.      The    abstract    must 


2^8        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

have  a  concrete,  the  conception  must  body  it- 
self forth  in  a  phenomenon  ;  the  spiritual  must 
mate  itself  with  the  material ;  soul  with  sense, 
and  Deity  with  incarnation.  Truth  must  cre- 
ate a  book ;  mind  must  have  a  brain  to  think 
with ;  affection  a  heart  to  love  with,  and  a 
tongue  to  tell  its  love,  or  at  least  a  grave-stone. 
Take  away  from  any  of  these  vital  forces  their 
appropriate  forms  and  expressions,  and  you 
reduce  the  forces  themselves  to  such  a  shrunk 
and  shrivelled  condition,  that  you  can  have  no 
proof  of  their  existence.  Their  life  has  fallen 
into  a  catalepsy.  Now  we  are  not  to  suppose 
that  the  great  vital  force  of  man's  moral  being, 
his  religion,  is  exempt  from  this  law  of  expres- 
sion. Faith,  too,  must  have  its  confession. 
While  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  jus- 
tification, with  the  mouth  confession  is  made 
unto  salvation.  And  when  you  extend  that 
faith,  so  that  it  becomes  the  faith  of  a  commu- 
nity, then  the  confession  must  take  a  definite 
and  fixed  form.  It  must  become  an  institute^ 
palpable,  plain,  and  public.  Hence  the  system 
of  Christian  faith  takes  of  a  necessity  a  cor- 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.       249 

porate  form.  Hence  the  necessity  of  a  visible 
cliiircli,  and  hence,  too,  the  host  of  God's  elect 
are  made  a  "  sacramental  host."  Not  that  a 
j)rivate  person  can  not  have  a  religious  heart 
without  the  tanmble  sacraments,  or  that  he 
can  not  pray  but  in  the  worship  of  the  visible 
church.  Not  that  he  may  not  express  his  re- 
ligion, faith  and  love  in  other  ways,  but  that 
he  may  and  must  express  them  thus:  That 
since  his  faith  is  a  common  faith,  its  expression 
shall  be  common,  and  therefore  its  form  must  in 
the  nature  of  things  be  determined  and  fixed. 
Under  the  same  category  as  the  visible 
church  and  its  sacramental  and  public  ordi- 
nances, we  may  place  the  Sabbath  as  one  of 
those  definite  institutes  which  express  in  the 
most  emphatic  form  the  religion  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  which  as  a  form  of  expression 
becomes  indispensable  to  the  conservation  of 
the  power,  if  not  of  the  very  life  itself,  of 
religion.  Abolish  the  Sabbath  as  the  time  for 
fixed  and  periodic  religious  service — leave  it  to 
the  arbitrary  choice  of  individuals  to  determine 
their  own  times  of  special  worshijD  and  religious 


250        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

duties,  and  you  exjiose  the  religion  of  the 
jDeojDle  to  a  fearful  trial.  You  leave  each  man 
to  his  unassisted  piety — you  trust  his  personal 
courao^e  and  conscience  to  tear  him  loose  from 
the  clino-iiiQ:  cares  and  associations  of  the  world 
to  break  through  the  forces  that  press  around 
to  hold  him  where  he  is;  companions,  busi- 
nesses, hospitalities,  recreations;  and,  with  a 
heroism  most  rare,  to  refuse  every  temptation, 
and  to  go  away  by  himself  and  spend  his  own 
self-chosen  Sabbath  in  lonely  worship  of  prayer 
and  thanks.  And  he  must  endure  this  small 
martyrdom  with  every  return  of  his  holy  day. 
Is  any  ordinary  piety  of  a  fibre  strong  enough 
to  stand  this  tug  and  strain,  week  by  week  ? 
Would  it  not  succumb  at  last,  weary  and  worn 
out  with  the  long  struggle  against  its  circum- 
stances until  the  religion  of  individuals,  one  by 
one,  having  given  way,  the  religion  of  the  com- 
munity would  die  out  ?  Or  if,  after  all,  con- 
science should  be  too  strong  for  this,  would  not 
this  striving  and  tempted  man,  who  would 
keep  his  holiness  alive,  seek  sympathy  from 
others   labouring   and   worried   like   himself? 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        251 

Would  they  not  band  themselves  into  a  fellow- 
ship in  imitation  of  the  visible  church,  and 
S]3read  their  common  rites  and  ordinances 
throughout  the  land,  and  invent  a  Sabbath  as 
a  day  of  periodical  religion — a  monument  and 
memorial  of  the  faith  to  keep  it  perpetual  and 
make  it  universal?  They  would  be  driven 
to  it  by  the  necessities  of  piety  to  save  their 
religion  from  being  exhausted  by  too  much 
conflict  and  too  little  support.  Just  as  our 
fasts  and  thanksgivings  are  more  solemn  and 
edifying,  because  they  are  public  or  national ; 
just  as  our  individual  patriotism  derives  a  fresh 
glow  and  new  stir  from  the  fourth  of  July  or 
the  birthday  of  Washington,  when  the  nation's 
heart  beats  aloud  with  the  same  pulse  as  ours ; 
so  do  the  convictions,  purposes,  beliefs,  hopes 
and  impulses  of  our  personal  religious  life  get 
periodical  force  and  vigour  from  the  sanctions, 
sympathies,  supports  and  stimulants  of  a 
Sabbath  sacredly  and  universally  kept,  re-at- 
testing to  men's  eyes  and  ears  what  their 
hearts  had  already  accepted,  yet  tremulously 
held,  the  momentous  worth  and  grandeur  to 


252        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

eacli  soul  of  tliat  reliofion  wliicli  was  thus 
grandly  and  publicly  symbolized.  Some  sacred 
day,  to  be  constantly  distinguished  from  week- 
day and  working-day,  is  therefore  a  constant 
necessity  of  the  religious  life  of  any  community 
of  men. 

How  much  greater  its  worth  and  power, 
then,  when  the  day  is  not  invented,  but 
assigned  and  sanctioned  from  Heaven,  bearing 
on  its  front  not  only  the  stamp  of  human 
expediency,  but  the  august  signature  of  the 
Father  of  our  lives. 

But  in  order  to  illustrate  the  influences  of  the 
Sabbath  well  kept,  upon  the  character  of  a  peo- 
ple, let  us  dwell  upon  those  influences  severally. 
Consider,  then,  the  educational  power  of  the 
Sabbath ;  and,  first,  its  power  of  educating  the 
mind.  Since  we  have  adopted  it  as  an  axiom 
in  our  politics,  that  the  prosperity  of  a  free  peo- 
ple dej)ends  upon  their  intelligence  as  well  as 
their  virtue,  the  question  is  invested  with  first- 
rate  importance,  how  far  the  Sabbath  is  an  edu- 
cator of  the  intellect.  I  think  the  question  may 
be  answered  by  challenging  the  competition  of 


CIVIL    EELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        253 

any  and  every  other  sort  of  instruction.  If  we 
except  some  particular  departments  of  learn- 
ing, sucli  as  the  exact  and  tlie  progressive 
sciences,  the  sources  of  mental  culture  belonmns; 
to  the  Sabbath  are  rich  and  rare  beyond 
parallel. 

Take,  for  example,  that  part  of  education 
which  consists  in  supplying  the  mind  with  the 
facts  and  suggestions  which  may  be  called  the 
mind's  furniture,  the  material  of  thought,  such 
as  comes  from  reading,  and  makes  what  Sir 
Francis  Bacon  calls  "  a  full  man."  The  Sab- 
bath supplies  this  to  the  mind,  because  it  is  all 
found  in  the  Bible,  and  the  Sabbath  is  the 
Bible's  peculiar  day.  Its  readings  and  preach- 
ings are  derived  from  that  book  of  books,  and 
so  identified  are  they  in  purpose  and  in  prac- 
tice, that  we  never  conceive  of  a  religious 
Sabbath  but  as  the  background  of  a  picture  on 
which  the  high  lights  and  the  richest  tints 
are  formed  of  the  instructions,  suggestions  and 
promises  of  the  word  of  God.  Whatever  of  in- 
struction, therefore,  the  Bible  can  furnish  to  the 
intellect  of  man,  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  worth 


254        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

of  the  Sabbatli.  How  various  tliat  instruction 
is !  Tliere  is  history  which,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is 
more  authentic  than  any  other  ancient  records 
of  the  jace.  There  are  facts  and  phenomena  of 
nature  which  are  just  as  truly  matters  for  sci- 
entific inquiry  as  any  more  recent.  There  is 
poetry,  descriptive,  suggestive,  and  lyrical, 
grander  than  Homer,  more  spiritual  than 
Wordsworth,  more  tenderly  touching  than 
Tennyson ;  eloquence  of  every  sort,  from  the 
grandly  vehement  to  the  meltingly  pathetic ; 
rhetoric  that  presents  the  most  apt  and  strik- 
ing combinations  of  human  language,  and  in 
every  form  of  composition,  narrative,  didactic, 
and  dramatic.  There  are  maxims  of  life  and 
manners,  pithy  and  sententious,  that  cling  like 
burs  to  the  memory,  and  are  full  of  "  the  seeds 
of  things ;"  prudential  rules  of  a  wise  life, 
furnishing  every  man  with  a  truth  just  suited 
to  every  chance  need  of  his  business  or  beha- 
viour. Such  is  this  many-sided  book  as  a  mere 
vehicle  for  instruction  to  the  mind.  No  man 
can  study  its  language  fresh  from  the  wells  of 
English  undeiiled,  without  finding  his  faculties 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        255 

stirred  and  refreshed,  liis  understandinir  in- 
formed,  his  taste  refined,  liis  judgment  im- 
proved, and  his  whole  mental  stature  grown 
taller  and  fuller.  Besides  this  education  which 
furnishes  the  mind,  there  is  a  still  better  sort 
which  disciplines  and  strengthens  it ;  and  this, 
too,  comes  from  the  same  source,  the  Sab- 
bath and  its  Bible.  This  special  benefit  to 
the  intellect  proceeds  from  the  character 
of  the  themes  presented  by  the  Sabbath  and 
the  Bible, — the  grandest  and  profoundest  that 
can  be  proposed  to  an  intelligent  being.  They 
are  God,  his  being,  his  attributes,  his  law,  his 
providence,  his  counsels  of  judgment  and 
of  grace,  the  wonderful  jDlan  of  redemption, 
involving  the  humiliation,  the  mediation,  and 
the  royal  triumph  of  the  Redeemer ;  Eternity 
with  its  deep,  abysmal  truths,  involving  the 
destinies  of  all  immortal  creatures ;  and  Man, 
his  nature  and  character ;  man  spiritual  and 
sensual  too  ;  his  weakness,  and  his  capacity  for 
great  strength  ;  his  sin,  and  his  potential  holi- 
ness ;  his  danger,  and  his  hopes ;  his  guilt,  and 
its  cleansing ;  his  soul-sickness,  and  its  divine 


256        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

cure ;  Ms  death,  and  his  resurrection  of  im- 
mortality, all  crowned  by  the  sublime  inquest 
of  a  universal  judgment.  Here  are  themes 
which  never  could  occur  sj)ontaneously  to  the 
minds  of  ordinary  men ;  and  if  to  extraordi- 
nary men,  they  could  come  only  as  dreams  or 
snatches  of  thought ;  self  speculations  and 
gymnastics  of  the  mind,  with  no  solemn  sanc- 
tion, no  reality,  and  so  no  profit.  But  the 
Sabbath  forces  them  forward  as  great  live 
truths  u]3on  the  thoughts  of  men.  They  must 
face  them,  grasp  them,  and  grapple  with  them 
seriously.  And  this  puts  the  mind  to  its 
stoutest  mettle.  It  has  to  stretch  itself  to  the 
grandest  issues  of  thought ;  has  to  go  down 
into  the  depths  and  up  to  the  heights  of  con- 
templation ;  down  into  the  principles  of  things, 
and  up  to  their  consummation ;  to  contemplate 
God,  and  to  anatomize  itself;  to  survey  the 
outside  universe,  and  to  explore  the  micro- 
cosm of  man's  inner  nature  ;  to  become  familiar 
with  the  great  principles  of  law ;  to  trace  the 
harmony  of  Providence  as  it  is  explained  by 
faith,  and  to  thread  the  labyrinths  of  human 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        257 

history  by  the  clue  of  Christ's  mediatorial 
reign.  I  do  not  say  that  any  of  these  huge 
themes,  jutting  out  from  the  dark  infinitude, 
can  be  thoroughly  explored  and  comprehended 
by  the  best  intellect  of  man.  But  no  intellect 
can  come  in  front  of  them  without  a  stransfe 
consciousness  of  development.  The  very  con- 
tact of  the  mind  with  thous^hts  and  themes 
like  these  energises  it,  puts  life  into  it. 
And  when  these  themes  are  pronounced  as 
revelations,  as  facts  and  realities  made  known 
to  man  Ijy  God  himself;  the  mind,  pressed 
from  within  by  the  strongest  incentive  it  is 
capable  of,  endeavours  to  hold  and  master  them 
and  make  them  a  part  of  itself  The  very  ef- 
fort inspires  strength,  makes  the  mind  stalwart 
and  robust,  and  secures  the  best  result  of  the 
highest  disciplinary  education.  Suppose  a  man, 
who  is  destitute  of  the  ordinary  facilities  of 
education,  to  devote  the  fifty-two  Sabbaths  of 
the  year  to  the  studious  contemj^lation  of  these 
Sabbath  themes,  and  so  for  twenty  years.  Does 
any  one  doubt  that  the  education  of  these  ' 
more  than  thousand  days,  almost  as  much  as 


258        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

the  four  years  of  a  collegiate  life,  would  find 
liiiii  far  in  advance  of  his  associates  in  all  the 
proofs  and  fruits  of  mental  culture  ?  Would 
he  not  be  a  fii^st-rate  subject  of  a  free  govern- 
ment, with  a  ri^^er  intelligence  than  most  men, 
fitter  than  most  men  to  cast  a  ballot,  if  he 
were  not  indeed  fit  to  govern  a  commonwealth  ? 
A  great  advantage  of  this  education  of  the 
Sabbath  is,  that  it  is  periodical ;  not  so  fre- 
quent as  to  make  it  a  drudgery,  and  not  so 
rare  as  to  endanger  the  permanence  of  its  im- 
pression. It  is  to  every  class  of  men,  specially 
and  peculiarly,  a  rest  and  refreshing.  To  the 
industrial  classes,  whose  vocations  lie  among 
solid  and  material  things,  and  to  the  commer- 
cial class,  whose  life  is  the  arithmetic  of  earthly 
values  and  products,  the  Sabbath  gives  oppor- 
tunity and  incitement  to  a  fresh  set  of  faculties, 
and  opens  the  windows  of  the  mind,  to  let  in 
the  fresh  air  of  thouo^hts  from  God  and  a  bet- 
ter  life.  And  even  to  the  classes  whose  busi- 
ness is  thought,  the  Sabbath  is  still  a  rest, 
while  it  is  still  an  education.  The  law- 
yer   escapes   from    the    perplexities    of    con- 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        259 

flicting  precedents,  contradictory  judgments, 
and  equivocal  projmeties,  into  the  pure 
light  of  truth  and  the  glorious  certain- 
ties of  righteousness.  And  the  physician  can 
separate  himself  awhile  from  the  painful  study 
of  second  causes  to  familiarize  his  mind  with 
the  workings  of  the  first  cause.  And  the  men 
of  science  and  philosophy  would  lose  nothing, 
but  gain  much,  by  taking  God's  existence  as  a 
standpoint  of  thought  for  a  while ;  and  God's 
government  and  providence  as  a  controlling 
fact  in  nature,  and  the  foundation  of  a  system 
of  final  causes.  Such  Sabbath  thoughts  would 
be  no  less  a  rest  to  them  than  to  the  laborious 
classes.  For  to  those  whose  habit  of  life  is 
thinking,  the  maxim  of  Sir  William  Jones  is 
always  true,  that  "the  change  of  study  is 
recreation  enouo'h."  Such  a  mental  education 
is  peculiarly  adapted  to  form  the  citizenship  of 
a  free  government.  For  it  begets  that  peculiar 
mental  characteristic  which  we  call  intellio:ence  ; 
that  is,  not  a  mere  technical  skill  in  certain 
branches  of  learning  which  sharpen  the  mind 
but  do  not  broaden  it — which  make  the  mind 


2G0        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

expert  witlioiit  making  it  wise ;  a  sort  of 
Austrian  education,  fitting  a  man  to  be  a  clever 
subject  of  a  clesj^otism,  but  not  a  free  citizen  of 
a  popular  government — not  that — but,  instead 
of  that,  an  education  which  makes  the  whole 
mind  of  larger  growth  ;  broader,  deeper  and 
solider  at  the  same  time,  with  more  of  muscle 
of  manhood,  of  general  effectiveness  and  power 
of  thinking.  This  is  plainly  the  education  we 
need.  Can  there  be  a  doubt  whether  this  is 
the  very  education  conferred  by  the  Sabbath, 
and  not  reached — not  even  imitated  in  any 
other  school  ? 

The  other  indispensable  qualification  for 
the  citizen  of  a  Republic,  besides  intelli- 
gence, is  what  is  called  virtue — a  cultivated 
moral  sense ;  an  enlightened  conscience.  This 
and  the  due  culture  of  the  intellect  are 
the  Jachin  and  Boaz  of  that  grand  political 
structure  which  we  hold  almost  as  sacred  as  a 
temple — a  free  Republic.  Consider,  then,  the 
Sabbath  as  an  educator  of  the  conscience.  It 
is  too  late  in  the  world's  history  to  vindicate 
the  claims  of  the  Bible  in  this  respect.     The 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        261 

acknowledgment  lias  long  ago  been  extracted 
or  extorted  from  all  sorts  of  men,  that  its  code 
of  morals  is  not  only  matcliless,  but  amazing. 
And  every  week  tlijs  body  of  moral  jirecept 
and  principle  is  presented  and  pressed  home 
upon    a    Sabbatli-keeping    community.      The 
grand  peculiarity  of  this  morality  is,  that  it 
recognizes  the  word  ought  as   an  imj^erative 
word  in  every  question  of  ethical  conduct.     It 
roots  and  grounds  itself  on  the  conscience.     It 
does  not  palter  with  great  principles,  like  Paley, 
and  give  up  man's  noble  moral  sense   to   be 
hoodwinked,  and   led   hither   and   yon   by  a 
dwarfed,  limping,  near-sighted  expediency.     It 
does  not,  like  Jeremy  Bentham,  propose  the 
greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number,  as 
the  rule  of  conduct,  requiring  omniscience  to 
determine  the  smallest  proprieties  of  life,  and 
leaving  the  conscience  more  dismally  befogged 
than  nature  made  it.    So  singular,  in  fact,  is  the 
Bible  on  its  recognition  of  right  and  wrong,  as 
absolute  facts  or  principles,   that  in    all   the 
progress  of  the  ages  no  system  of  ethics  was 
ever    enunciated    which   was    based   on   this 


262        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH 

distinction  alone  until  the  Christian,  Butler, 
rescued  this  divine  principle  from  the  mob  of 
human  speculations,  where  it  was  in  danger  of 
being  strangled  or  torn  to  pieces,  and  clothed 
it  afresh  in  the  graceful  robe  of  a  Christian 
philosophy.  But  it  was  always  in  the  Bible 
whole,  simjDle  and  grand ;  the  principle  that 
men  must  do  right,  because  they  ought ;  the 
fact  that  they  have  a  conscience  to  enforce  that 
ought;  that  conscience  is  an  imperial  faculty 
transferred  from  Heaven,  armed  with  Divine 
prerogatives  to  approve  with  sweet  peace  when 
man  obeyed  God,  and  to  punish  with  stings  of 
scorpions  when  he  refused  and  rebelled.  And 
it  is  in  the  Bible  still — this  standard  of  moral 
conduct  —  in  all  its  simplicity,  integrity  and 
grandeur.  It  is  the  moral  teaching  of  the 
Sabbath.  It  is  j)ronounced  to  the  ears  of  every 
keeper  of  the  Sabbath.  And  not  to  his  ear 
only,  but  to  his  soul.  For  it  is  God's  voice  that 
speaks,  and  speaks  with  the  authority  of  a 
creator  and  the  tenderness  of  a  father — speaks 
alike  from  Sinai  and  from  Calvary — speaks 
with  the  sanctions  of  eternity  and  the  persua- 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        263 

sions  of  love ;  and  while  it  rouses  the  conscience 
to  the  ennobling  sense  of  duty,  changes  the  old 
heart  to  a  new,  and  inspires  it  with  such  love 
for  the  right,  that  the  law  of  God  may  be  said 
to  be  written  within  it.  This  is  the  finished 
product  of  moral  character,  begotten  legiti- 
mately of  the  Sabbath.  It  is,  indeed,  a  con- 
verted and  Christian  character.  But  even 
where  it  fails  of  this  completeness  of  result,  it 
is  still  the  most  perfect  plan  of  moral  instruc- 
tion and  training.  No  person  can  come  into 
habitual  contact  and  contemplation  of  such 
instruction  without  deriving  a  certain  clearness 
and  stren2:th  to  his  moral  convictions  which 
will  elevate  his  whole  manhood.  Taught  of 
God,  he  will  be  both  independent  of  men  and 
reverent  to  authority.  But  his  independence, 
being  conscientious,  will  be  without  arrogance, 
and  his  reverence,  being  insj^ired,  will  be  with- 
out servility.  Is  not  this  the  beau  ideal  of  moral 
manhood,  animated  and  actuated  with  the 
conscious  dignity  of  duty  ?  Out  of  this  grow 
loyalty,  patriotism,  the  love  of  order,  and  of 
law ;  and,  indeed,  every  civic  virtue.  And  when 


26-4   CIVIL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

diffused  a])road,  out  of  it  comes  a  controlling, 
national  conscience  wbicli  unites  the  whole 
j^eople  in  the  repressing  of  public  wrong,  and 
the  maintenance  and  defence  of  universal  right. 

Is  not  the  moral  demand  of  the  Republic 
met,  then  ?  Is  not  such  morality  a  fit  qualifi- 
cation for  its  citizenship  ?  Is  such  morality 
taught  and  enforced  in  any  other  school,  as  it  is 
by  the  schooling  of  the  Sabbath  ? 

We  may  rest  here  from  the  discussion  of  the 
direct  influence  of  the  Sabbath  as  an  educa- 
tional power.  But  we  can  hardly  help  remem- 
bering another  sort  of  influence  which,  though 
indirect,  is  still  powerful  and  very  wholesome. 
It  arises  out  of  the  very  subsistence  of  the 
Sabbath  as  a  sacred  and  public  day,  with  all 
its  associations  and  incidents.  The  very  paus- 
ing from  work,  the  release  from  the  heat,  the 
hurry,  the  noise,  the  dust  of  the  week  day,  to 
the  cleanliness,  the  order  and  sobriety  of  a 
holy  day,  is  of  itself  a  social  influence  that  is 
very  salutary.  The  mingling  of  all  classes  up- 
on the  one  platform  of  the  church  on  terms 
that  presuppose  the  equalit}^  of  all,  praying 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OP    THE    SABBATH.        265 

the  same  prayers,  listening  to  the  same  divine 
truths  that  were  meant  for  all  alike,  all  stirred 
alike  by  the  same  power  or  pathos  of  its  ap- 
peals and  persuasions,  the  felt  force  of  that 
sympathy  which  makes  the  whole  world  kin, 
combining  the  self-resjDect  of  the  individual 
manhood  with  the  gentle  feelings  of  a  common 
brotherhood;  here  is  the  much  needed  anti- 
dote to  that  envy  of  rivalry,  which  is  the  pe- 
culiar danger  of  a  popular  community,  where 
the  separation  of  classes  is  not  determined  by 
law  or  caste,  and  where  all  are  competitors  for 
equal  honours  or  success.  These,  and  like  these, 
are  the  indirect  influences  of  the  Sabbath,  sur- 
rounding the  character  and  pressing  like  the 
atmosphere  ujDon  every  inch  of  it.  It  throws 
over  the  robust  form  of  the  political  character 
the  grace  of  a  social  charm,  and  smooths  the 
ruggedness  of  personal  independence  with  that 
best  of  good  l^reeding,  viz,  the  inl^red  kind- 
ness of  brotherhood  and  charity.  Of  all  these 
benefits,  then,  the  mental,  the  moral  and  the 
social,  may  not  the   Christian  Sabbath   claim 

the    maternity  ''i      I   do   not   disparage   other 
12 


266        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

su23posable  means  and  agencies  for  effecting 
tliese  results,  nor  do  I  draw  any  comparison  of 
advantage  witli  tliem.  It  is  enougli  to  know 
that  the  positive,  if  not  the  singular  power, 
of  the  Sabbath,  has  been  fairly  stated.  If  so, 
it  is  but  an  equivalent  statement  to  say,  that 
to  the  purity  and  stability  of  a  popular  gov- 
ernment the  Sabbath  is  absolutely  indispensa- 
ble. And  from  this  statement  there  is  but  a 
single  step  to  the  practical  conclusion,  that 
among  us  the  Sabbath  ought  to  be  maintained 
as  a  national  institute,  a  power  of  the  state 
expressing  the  civic  form  of  religion ;  the  fixed 
confession  of  the  nation's  allegiance  to  Him 
who  is  King  of  other  kings,  and  Lord  of  all 
other  lords. 

Pardon  me,  then,  for  a  few  remaining  words 
touching  the  methods  for  its  maintenance.  The 
first  and  most  obvious  of  these  is  the  requisi- 
tion to  be  made  by  the  public  upon  the  public, 
that  the  Sabbath,  when  kept,  shall  be  kept 
holy.  It  were  a  fallacy  in  logic,  and  a  perver- 
sion in  morals,  to  claim  that  the  Sabbath  shall 
be  a  festival,  and  not  a  sacred  festival.     The 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.       267 

same  authority  that  prescribes  the  appoint- 
ment, covers  likewise  its  conditions.  Nay,  the 
very  pith  and  emphasis  of  the  appointment  is 
concentrated  in  the  one  word  ''  holy."  If  man 
were  only  an  animal,  with  no  moral  activities 
and  capacities  for  evil,  it  might  be  enough  to 
prescribe  a  stated  rest  of  one  day  in  seven,  as 
a  mere  sanatory  provision  for  the  recruiting  of 
his  physical  j)owers ;  and  the  result,  as  shown 
by  experience,  would  be  a  large  economy  of 
life  and  of  labour.  But  when  with  all  his  sus- 
ceptibilities, mental,  moral  and  social,  you  tura 
him  loose  from  labour  at  stated  intervals  upon 
a  world  of  unregulated  excitements,  with  no 
object  suited  to  the  day  but  the  negative  one 
of  doing  no  work :  then  you  turn  the  day  of 
grace  and  moral  health  into  a  season  of  temp- 
tation. You  throw  down  the  moral  barriers 
with  w^hich  even  the  work  of  the  week  day 
screens  his  nature  against  wickedness,  and  you 
make  him  accessible  at  every  point  of  his  char- 
acter to  all  the  surrounding  influences  of  evil. 
The  inevitable  result  will  be,  that  all  the  mor- 
al power  of  the  Sabbath  will  be  transmuted  to 


268        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

evil,  on  the  principle  tliat  whatever  is  most  ef- 
fective  for  good  becomes  by  perversion  propor- 
tionately bad ;  on  the  principle  that  an  arch- 
ano-el  mined  becomes  the  chief  of  the  fiends. 
The  Sabbath  thus  becomes  a  Saturnalia ;  the 
day  of  rest,  a  day  of  idleness ;  the  Devil's  holi- 
day with  the  idle  man  for  his  playfellow. 

The  Sabbath,  therefore,  must  be  maintained 
as  a  public  institute  in  the  integrity  of  its  sa- 
credness,  and  its  first  safeguard  is  the  protec- 
tion of  the  laws.  Although  the  constitutionality 
of  the  Sabbath  is  no  longer  an  open  question, 
yet  the  extent  to  which  fresh  legislation  may 
be  carried  is,  and  has  been,  a  matter  of  con- 
test. No  doubt  the  genius  of  our  system 
would  dictate  extreme  caution  in  the  way  of 
the  positive  enforcement  of  Sabbath  duties. 
Yet,  since  the  whole  presumption  of  law  and 
precedent  is  in  favour  of  the  Sabbath  as  an  ex- 
isting religious  institute,  there  would  seem  to 
be  no  reason  why  a  negative  and  defensive 
legislation  may  not  be  most  stringent  and  per- 
emptory, saving  the  liberty  of  the  individual 
conscience  by  not  exacting  a  personal  worship ; 


CIVIL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  SABBATH.   269 

but  saving,  too,  the  purity  of  the  public  con- 
science by  forbidding  the  open  desecration  of 
the  public  worshipping  day.  There  may  be  at 
least  a  legislative  prohibition  of  such  amuse- 
ments and  revelries  as  amount  to  a  moral  nui- 
sance. There  may  be  at  least  a  bar  placed  ujv 
on  that  moral  dishonesty  which  robs  God  of 
the  seventh,  when  he  has  already  given  us  the 
six  days  of  life.  The  community  owes  to  itself, 
as  an  act  of  self-preservation,  such  conservative 
legislation  as  this.  The  people  owe  it  to  their 
fathers,  in  maintaining  their  legacy  of  a  free 
government,  to  cling  likewise  to  those  vital 
conditions  of  the  bequest,  which  were  the  first 
cost  of  the  possession,  and  are  now  its  main 
security. 

If  opposition  should  arise  from  a  part  of  the 
population  born  and  bred  under  another  polit- 
ical sky,  who  would  plant  in  our  soil  their 
exotic  ideas  of  national  morality  and  popular 
rights,  let  our  legislation  be  as  an  appeal  to 
their  modesty  to  enjoy  our  jmvileges  without 
invading  our  proprieties.  Let  them  not  wrong 
the   warm-hearted   welcome   to    our   political 


270        CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

houseliold,  by  disturbing  tlie  order  and  peace 
of  the  family. 

Another  safeguard  of  the  Sabbath  may  be 
found  in  the  diligent  use  of  the  system  of  Sun- 
day Schools.  Let  the  children  of  recusant 
foreigners  be  gathered  from  all  quarters  to  be 
taught  and  trained  for  a  Christian  life,  and  with 
the  next  generation  the  anti-Sabbath  virus  will 
be  purged  from  the  body  politic,  and  we  shall 
all  be  religiously  as  well  as  nationally  American. 

And  not  to  multiply  expedients,  let  all  those 
who  cherish  the  Sabbath  as  a  national  institute 
to  be  kept  holy  to  the  Lord,  extend  their  per- 
sonal i'uiluence,  negative  and  positive,  to  its 
thorough  and  due  observance.  Kemember  the 
holiness  of  its  afternoon  as  well  as  of  its  morn- 
ing. Do  not  attempt,  by  the  worship  of  the 
church,  to  buy  an  indulgence  for  the  revelries 
of  the  dining-room.  Do  not  select  God's 
festival  time  for  man's  feasting  time.  Do  not 
make  the  social  duty  of  hospitality  override 
the  divine  duty  of  communion  with  God.  Let 
every  family  that  believes  in  the  Sabbath  live 
as  becomes  their  faith. 


CIVIL    RELATIONS    OF    THE    SABBATH.        271 

Let  the  domestic  Sabbatli  T)e  kept,  and  the 
national  Sabbath  will  not  be  destroyed.  Holy 
homes  will  make  a  holy  nation,  chosen  of  the 
Lord,  and  honourable.  In  virtue  of  that  fixed 
law  of  the  universe  by  which  the  meek  inherit 
the  earth ;  the  law  which  draws  temporal 
blessings  in  the  train  of  moral  well-doing  as 
the  waters  close  in  and  follow  the  wake  of  the 
ship — by  that  law,  guaranteed  by  God's  prom- 
ise, it  will  happen  that  the  nation  "  will  be 
exalted  to  ride  u23on  the  high  places  of  the 
earth,"  receiving  the  tribute  of  acknowledg- 
ment from  all  the  earth,  that  a  fi^ee  government 
is  the  crown  and  perfection  of  man's  civil  exist- 
ence. And  it  shall  "  be  fed  with  the  heritage 
of  Jacob ;"  an  influence  and  power  of  blessing 
whose  dominion  shall  be  universal,  "  from  sea 
to  sea  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,"  and  lasting  as  the  covenant  of  God. 
"  For  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it." 


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a  part  in  years  gone  by,  is  again  re-published.  Though  the  hand  that  traced 
this  thrilling  narrative  is  now  palsied  in  death,  yet  the  object  she  sought  to  pro- 
mote (i.  e.  an  interest  in  the  faithful  pastor  on  the  part  of  his  congregation,)  is 
no  less  important  now  than  on  its  first  publication,  when  more  tl[ia.n  forty  thou- 
sand copies  were  sold  to  the  multitudes  who  re^id  with  unflagging  interest  the 
touching  and  only  too  truthful  story." 

LOUISE  JULIANE,   Electress   Palatine, 

and  her  Times,  (sister  of   William,   Prince  of  Orange). 
By  Fanny  E.  Bunnett.      1 2mo.  jr 

DAYBREAK;   OR,    RIGHT  STRUG- 
GLING AND  TRIUMPHANT.     By  the  Author  of 
"  Passing  Clouds,"  "  Warfare  and  Work,"  &c.     .  .      50 

BERTIE  LEE,  a  Story  for  Boys.   ...    40 
BROAD    SHADOWS    ON    LIFE'S 

PATHWAY.      By    the    Author  of  "Doing  and  Suffer- 
ing."    i6mo,  ...         .         .         .         .         -75 


Carters'   Catalog xae. 


Xo 


NY    STARR'S    LEGACY;    OR, 

TRUST  IN  A  COVENANT  KEEPING  GOD.     By 
the  Author  of  **  Win  and  Wear."      i6mo. 

Also,  a  New  Edition  of  Win  and  Wear.      i8mo, 

"  This  is  a  well  told  story  of  youthful  struggles  and  triumphs.  It  will  teach 
boys  valuable  lessons,  and  stimulate  them  to  be  energetic  and  hopeful," — 
Presbyterian. 

BY  A.  L.  O.  E. 

XHE  shepherd  of  BETHLEHEM, 

KING  OF  ISRAEL.      i8mo,  6  engravings, 

2.  Angus  Tarlton.      i8mo,    . 

3.  Harry  Dangerfield.      i8mo, 

4.  England's  Day  Break.      i8mo,  . 

5.  Parliament  in  the  Play  Room.     i8mo, 

6.  The  Poacher.  .... 

7.  The  Chief's  Daughter. 

New  Editions.      By  the  same  Author. 

.   50     The  Adopted  Son, 


The  Claremont  Tales, 

The  Young  Pilgrim,  .  •   50 

Flora  and  other  Tales,  .  .    ^o 
Eddy  Ellerslie  and  The  Mine,  .    50 

The  Christian's  Mirror,  .  .    50 

Pride  and  his  Prisoners,  .  .    50 

Walter  Binning,       .  .  •   3° 

The  Story  of  a  Needle,  .  .25 

Old  Friends,  .  .  .  .30 

The  Roby  Family,  .  .  '30 
The  Mine.  . 


Giant  Killer  and  Sequel, 
Needle  and  Rat,    . 
Precepts  and  Practice, 
Idols  in  the  Heart, 
Wings  and  Stings, 
True  Heroism, 
The  Two  Paths,  . 
The  Giant  Killer, 
Rambles  of  a  Rat, 
.     40 


75 
50 


50 
25 
30 
25 
30 
50 
50 


50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
25 
25 

25 

30 

30 


"  "We  would  rather  be  A.  L.  O.  E.  than  Thackeray  or  Dickens.  .  .  .  Who  shall 
undertake  even  to  guess  how  many  young  minds  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
have  received  permanent  impulse  in  the  paths  of  virtue  and  piety  through  the 
Influence  of  the  charming  books  which  have  appeared  under  this  authorship." — 
Christian  Times. 

OLD    MARGIE'S    FLOWER   STALL, 

and  other  Stories.      i8mo,  .....     30 

"  We  welcome  this  accomplished  pen  to  a  certain  success." — Times. 


Carters'   Catalogne. 


XHE    POSTMAN'S  BAG,  and  other 

Stories.   By  the  Rev.  J.  F.  De  Liefde,  with  16  Ilkistrations,   75 

'•The  stories  are  charming  for  their  originality,  and  will  delight  the  young. 
The  paper  and  printing  of  the  choicest  kind,  and  the  numerous  illustrations,  by 
the  best  artists,  arc  novel,  and  beautifully  characteristic  and  artistic.  Young 
.readers  will  be  sure  to  inquire  fur  this  book." — Presbyterian. 

MORNING.      i8mo,  6  Engravings.  .    30 

"Little  childish  sayings  and  deeds  are  woven  into  a  narrative  as  simple  and 
lively  as  nursery  prattle,  but  as  chaste  and  elegant  as  a  Yioem.'^—Liielligencer. 

WEE  DAVIE.     By  Norman  Macleod, 

D.  D.      i8mo, 25 

•'This  is  a  charming  little  book,  giving  a  beautiful  illustration  of  its  Scrip- 
tural motto,  'a  little  child  shall  lead  them.'  ....  It  is  told  in  a  style  of  great 
beauty,  and  with  a  spice  of  Scotch  hnmoi:'"—Ck)'UU(t ii  Wiine.f'^. 

XHE    GOLD    THREAD,  a   Story.     By 

Norman  Macleod,  D.  D.   With  6  fine  Engravings.  i8mo,     30 
"This  is  a  beautiful  allegory.    The  Gold  Thread  is  duty  to  God,  and  the 
story  illustrates  how,  by  holding  fast  to  this,  the  young  may  come  safely  at  last 
to  the  city  of  the  Great  Kiiig.''''—Christia7i  Times. 

ROUGHING    IT   WITH    ALECK 

BAILLIE,  A  Story  for  Boys.   By  W.  S.  Stewart.    i8mo.      50 

"  This  is  a  well  told  story  of  an  orphan  boy,  who  was  sent  to  '  rough  it '  at  a 
school  in  Scotland.  But  his  experiences  were  decidedly  agreeable,  and  by 
making  judicious  acquaintances  and  following  the  straight  and  narrow  path  of 
duty,  he  found  much  pleasure  where  he  had  little  anticipated  it." — Chronicle. 

KITTY'S  VICTORY,  and    other    Tales. 

By  the  Author  of  "  Cosmo's  Visit  to  his  Grandparents." 
i8mo.      12  cuts,        .......      50 

"  A  series  of  stories  for  young  folks,  very  prettily  written,  and  beautifully  got 
up.  A  really  good  book  for  children  is  a  treasure  in  any  household." — Congre- 
gational Herald. 

XHE  BLACK  SHIP,  and  other  Allegor- 

ies.      i8mo,  3  Engravings,  .  .  .  .  •      5^ 

"This  is  a  beautiful  collection  of  short  allegories,  ingenious  in  conception, 
instructive  in  their  lessons,  and  generally  practical  in  their  application." — 
Evangelist. 

Tf  HE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE,  a  Book  for 

the  Young.    By  the  Rev.  Dr.  Macduff.     7  cuts,  .     30 


Carters'   Catulosrvie 


ENGLAND'S     YEOMEN.      By    the 

Author  of  "  Ministering  Children."     i2mo,  .  .    i.oo 

"Rarely,  if  over,  have  wo  seen  a  more  effective  or  captivating  representation 
of  the  elevating,  refining,  and  consoling  influences  of  domestic  piety." — Ameri- 
can Preii^jyterian. 

EVENINGS   WITH     BUNYAN ;    OR,   ' 

THE  DREAM  INTERPRETED.    By  James  Large,   i.oo 

XHE  KING'S  HIGHWAY;  or  Illustra- 

tions  of  the  Commandments.     By  R.  Newton,  D.  D. 
i8mo,      .........      50 

TpHE    GIANTS,   AND    HOW   TO 

FIGHT  THEM.     By  the  same  author.      i8mo,  .     40 

BEST    THINGS.      By  the  same  author. 

i8mo,      .........      50 

BLIND  LILIAS;  OR,  FELLOWSHIP 

WITH  GOD.      i8mo, 50 

XHE    BROTHER'S    WATCHWORD. 

i8mo,      .........     50 

DAYS    OF    OLD.     By  the  Author    of 

"  Ruth  and  her  Friends," 50 

RUTH    AND  HER   FRIENDS.    A 

Tale  for  Girls,  .......      50 

X HE   NEAR  AND    THE    HEAVEN- 
LY HORIZONS.     By  Madame  de  Gasparin.    izmo,    1.00 

"  These  pages  are  like  gossamer  threads  beaded  ^\ith  radiant  dew-drops.  The 
book  ought  to  become  extremely  popular." — The  Witness.    (Edinburgh.) 

"This  is  a  book  to  be  enjoyed  and  revelled  in  rather  than  criticised.  The 
reader  who  sits  down  to  it  will  have  a  rare  literary  treat." — The  Scottish 
Guardian. 

"  Be  persuaded,  reader,  to  get  this  beautiful  volume.  It  is  just  the  book  for 
Sabbath  afternoons  in  a  Christian  family." — Eclectic  Review. 

LIFE  WORK  ;  OR,  THE  LINK  AND 

THE  RIVET.    By  the  author  of  the  "Missing  Link,"     75 

"  It  shows,  not  by  dry  didactic  discussion,  but  by  narratives  of  facts,  narra- 
tives full  of  life  and  interest,  how  much  woman  with  the  Bible  in  her  hand  can 
do  for  woman." — Lutheran. 


Carters'   Catalogoie. 


SUNSETS  ON  THE  HEBREW  MOUN- 
TAINS.    By  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Macduff,  D.  D.,  author  of 
"  Morning  and  Night  Watches,"  etc., 

"Few  of  those  who  have  contributed  to  the  religions  litcriitnre  of  onr  day- 
have  been  more  popuhir  than  this  Scottish  writer.  In  this  volume  he  portrays 
the  sjlory  which  surrounds  the  hoary  heads  of  God's  aged  servants,  glowing 
like  the  sunsets  on  the  mountains  of  Israel." 


75 


BY    THE    SAME    AUTHOR. 


Footsteps  of  St.  Paul, 
Family  Prayers.      i6mo. 
Woodcutter  of  Lebanon, 
The  Great  Journey, 
Child's  Book  of  Divinity, 
Evening  Incense.       i6mo 
Memories  of  Bethany, 
Memories  of  Gennesaret, 
The  Bow  in  the  Cloud, 
The  Story  of  Bethlehem, 
Hart  and  Water-Brooks, 
Cities  of  Refuge, 
Grapes  of  Eshcol,    . 


Morning  and  Night  Watches. 

Fine  ed.,  open  type.  i6mo,  60 
Morning  and  Night  Watches. 

3 2mo,  gilt,  40  cents  j  red  ed,  30 
The  Words  of  Jesus.  i6mo,  40 
The  Mind  of  Jesus.  i6mo,  40 
The  Words  and  Mind  of  Jesus. 

In  1  vol.,  fine  ed.  i6mo,  60 
The    Faithful    Promiser    and 

Altar  Stones.  i8mo,  .  25 
The  Words  and  Mind  of  jesus 

and  Faithful  Promiser.        1 

vol.,  32mo,  pocket  edition. 

Gilt,  40  cents ;  red  edge,  .    30 

LORD  BACON'S  BIBLE  THOUGHTS. 

Edited  by  the  Rev.  John  G.  Hall.      1 2mo, 

"The  marvellous  greatness  of  Lord  Bacon's  mind  is  well  known,  and  so 
should  be  his  great  and  constant  interest  in  the  Bible.  The  present  compila- 
tion has  been  well  made,  and  the  book  is  a  valuable  one  for  ministers,  and  for 
intelligent  Christians  generally.  It  contains  a  large  amount  of  massive 
thought." — The  Puritan  Recofde7\    (Boston.) 

LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  JOHN 

ANGELL  JAMES,  including   an   unfinished  Autobiog- 
raphy.     Edited  by  Rev.  R.  W.  Dale.      8vo,     .  .   2. 

"This  work  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  its  kind  that  we  have  ever  met 
with.  No  minister  can  read  it  without  deriving  valuable  lessons  and  noble 
impulses.  Next  to  communing  with  such  a  man  as  Mr.  James,  the  study  of  his 
biography  will  tend  to  inspire  us  with  his  untiring  activity,  his  fervent  devo- 
tion, his  comprehensive  views,  and  his  broad  yet  discriminating  charity." — 
Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 


1.00 

75 

50 

30 

25 
40 

60 

1.00 

40 

60 

60 

30 
60 


1.00 


00 


Carters'    Catalog i.ie 


A 


CRITICAL    COMMENTARY   ON 

THE    GREEK    TEXT    OF    THE  EPISTLE  TO 
THE  EPHESIANS,      By  John  Eadie,  LL.D.      8to,   3.00 

"For  thoroughm-ss  of  exegesis,  fullness  of  exposition,  and  for  clearness  of 
statement.  Dr.  Eadies'  Commentaries  are  unsurpassed.  They  contain  every- 
where the  marks  of  critical  studiousness  and  patient  investigation,  without  that 
excess  of  refinement  which  so  often  confounds  the  reader  and  destroys  the  ob- 
vious meaning  of  the  text." — Watchman  and  Reflector. 

XHE  PATHWAY  OF  PROMISE;  OR, 

WORDS  OF  COMFORT  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN 
PILGRIM.      i8mo.  Magenta  edge,    .  .  .  .50 

"Both  in  matter  and  execution,  this  is  a  charming  book." — Itef.  Pbn. 
"A  beautiful  little  volume." — Christian  Witness. 

ANNALS   OF    THE    AMERICAN 

METHODIST  PULPIT.     By  W.  B.  Sprague,  D.  D.   3.00 

"  The  following  card  was  drawn  up  by  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  at  their  late  meeting  at  Springfield,  and  sent  to  Dr,  Sprague  without 
any  solicitation.  It  is  a  flattering  testimonial  to  the  impartiality,  diligence,  and 
taste  of  the  distinguished  author.  It  is  a  mark  of  progress  when  a  minister 
of  one  denomination  is  recognized  as  an  accepted  historian  of  another: 

"  "We,  the  subscribers,  have  examined  with  great  pleasure  Dr.  Sprague's  An- 
nals of  the  American  Methodist  Pulpit,  and  take  this  opportunity  to  express 
our  sincere  gratitude  to  him  for  the  able  and  satisfactory  manner  in  which  he 
has  completed  the  work,  and  we  very  heartily  recommend  the  volume  as  a  valu- 
able contribution  to  the  memory  and  Christian  worth  of  many  of  our  departed 
ministers. 

T.  A.  MoRKis,  E.  S.  Janes,  L.  Scott, 

O.  C.  Baker,  M.  Simpson,  E.  E.  .i\mes. 

Springfleld,  Ohio,T)QC.  14,  1861." 

THE    BIBLE  AND   THE   CLASSICS. 

By  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Meade.      8vo,        .  .  .2.50 

"The  object  of  this  volume  is  to  make  the  heathen  mythologies  and  the  an- 
cient classics  witnesses  for  the  Bible.  .  .  .  The  materials  have  been  drawn  from 
a  wide  range  of  authorities,  some  of  them  difficult  of  access  even  to  educated 
readers." — Evangelist. 

OUTLINES  OF  THEOLOGY,    By 

the  Rev.  A.  A.  Hodge.      8vo,  .  .  .  .2.00 

"  After  carefully  examining  the  work,  we  are  free  to  give  it  a  very  high  meed 
of  commendation  both  as  to  plan  and  execution.  .  .  .  The  style  of  the  author  is 
clear,  compact,  and  nervous,  condensing  the  greatest  amount  of  matter  into  the 
smallest  amount  of  words;  and  his  (the  author's)  knowledge  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject is  so  accurate  that  he  is  able  to  give  this  condensation  iu  the  best  form." — 
Central  Presbyterian. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
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